Ocado has launched a pioneering retail media service named Ocado Ads.
- The initiative is set to offer brands a measurable avenue for growth through tailored advertising.
- Ocado partners with retail media platform Zitcha to enhance campaign management and insights.
- The service includes diverse advertising channels such as social media and connected TV.
- Ocado aims to become the leading hub for ‘test and learn’ in grocery advertising.
Ocado has introduced a new and innovative retail media service named Ocado Ads, marking a significant evolution in its operational strategy. This new initiative aims to offer brands a distinct path to achieve measurable growth through advertisements that are both pertinent to customers and tailored to provide a personalized experience. Ocado Ads is equipped with comprehensive campaign planning and management tools developed in collaboration with the retail media platform Zitcha. This collaboration enhances advertisers’ ability to strategize and execute effective campaigns across various platforms including onsite, offsite, social media, and connected TV.
A core feature of Ocado Ads is its ability to deliver insights and analytics via Ocado’s Beet platform, which empowers advertisers with valuable data to optimize their strategies. Advertisers have access to the Ocado NPD Lab, hailed as offering the fastest New Product Development (NPD) in the UK, alongside capabilities for A/B testing, enabling the assessment of different creative formats. Such facilities underline Ocado’s ambition to become “the home of test and learn for grocery advertising” in the country.
Jack Johnson, the head of Ocado Ads, expressed that this initiative raises the standard for retail media. He highlighted Ocado’s historical role as an innovative force within the industry, emphasizing that Ocado Ads represents a continuation of this disruptive spirit. “We encourage all our suppliers to grow with us and so we’ve created Ocado Ads with a view to providing another growth engine for brands,” Johnson stated. Ocado Ads boasts a highly flexible operating model that diverges from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach of existing retail media networks, allowing both advertisers and agencies to choose between self-service, fully managed, or hybrid options.
The launch of Ocado Ads coincides with a period of burgeoning investment in retail media, with ad expenditures expected to exceed £4 billion in the UK this year alone—a figure projected to nearly double by 2027, according to data from Insider Intelligence. As numerous supermarkets now offer specialized retail media services, Ocado seeks to differentiate itself by integrating its entire business around its retail media network, a development supported by Zitcha CEO Troy Townsend, who noted the comprehensive capabilities being built out within the partnership.
In this increasingly competitive domain, Ocado Ads strives to set itself apart by offering holistic solutions that cater to various business needs, emphasizing full visibility and strategic alignment in planning and delivering retail media from a corporate perspective.
Ocado Ads represents a forward-thinking advancement in retail media, promising innovative growth opportunities in the grocery sector.
