Ocado debuts ‘Ocado Ads’, a retail media service aimed at enhancing brand growth and customer experience.
- Ocado’s new venture promises “measurable growth” through tailored advertising solutions.
- The service includes campaign management, utilising Zitcha’s platform for advertisements across various channels.
- Ocado Ads integrates with the Beet platform for insightful analytics and testing capabilities.
- This initiative positions Ocado as a leader in retail media, aligning with growing industry trends.
Ocado has unveiled a retail media service named Ocado Ads, signifying a significant shift in its business strategy. The service is designed to help brands drive measurable growth by providing relevant advertising and a personalised shopping experience. By collaborating with the retail media platform Zitcha, Ocado Ads offers campaign planning and management tools that are available across several channels, including on-site, off-site, social media, and connected TV.
Ocado Ads is further enhanced by the integration of the Beet platform, which delivers detailed insights and analytics. Advertisers can benefit from the Ocado NPD Lab, which is touted as enabling the fastest new product development (NPD) in the UK. This service allows brands to experiment with A/B testing to measure the effectiveness of different creative strategies.
Currently recognised as the UK’s fastest-growing supermarket for six months consecutively, according to Kantar data, Ocado aims to establish itself as the central hub for grocery advertising innovation in the UK. Jack Johnson, Head of Ocado Ads, stated that the launch represents a fundamental elevation in retail media standards. “We encourage all our suppliers to grow with us, and we’ve created Ocado Ads to act as another growth engine for brands,” he remarked. Johnson highlighted the flexibility of Ocado Ads, which offers a choice between fully self-serve, fully managed, or customised operational models, making it adaptable to various client needs.
The retail media landscape is experiencing rapid expansion, with UK ad spend expected to exceed £4 billion this year and forecasted to nearly double by 2027, marking the highest expenditure in Western Europe. Most major supermarkets have ventured into retail media services, each refining their offerings into specialised agencies.
Zitcha’s CEO, Troy Townsend, noted that his company’s collaboration with Ocado is focused on seamlessly integrating the retail media network throughout the business, enhancing cross-functional capabilities, and providing comprehensive visibility on the planning and deployment of media initiatives.
The introduction of Ocado Ads is set to redefine the landscape of retail media, showcasing Ocado’s commitment to innovation in the grocery sector.
