Target is expanding its Roundel retail media network on several fronts, a move that arrives as advertisers are within the thick of their holiday planning. Roundel is broadening its capabilities with the introduction of a self-service buying tool together with adding a variety of premium programmatic publisher partners and experimenting more in shoppable connected TV (CTV) at the peak of the gift-giving season, Marketing Dive can exclusively share.
Increasing the breadth of Roundel’s offerings comes as retail media grows more crowded, pushing brands to be selective with their dollars and adding appeal to platforms that may provide a deeper level of technological sophistication and audience insights. Roundel draws on first-party data derived from the tens of hundreds of thousands of shoppers who visit Target weekly each in-store and online, as well as the corporate’s Circle loyalty program that commands 100 million members. Calls for retail media standardization have also grown louder in recent months to handle the fragmentary nature of the channel, where there are currently few ways to uniformly track and measure the success of campaigns across networks.
Roundel President Sarah Travis
Permission granted by Target
“We feel strongly that, inside this industry, we’re within the early innings and we’d like this business to mature,” said Sarah Travis, president of Roundel, of the standardization query, adding that the corporate supports the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s efforts on this area. “There must be more transparency and there must be more standardization.”
Aligned with the mandate around streamlining and ease is the launch of Roundel Media Studio, a self-service buying tool focused on Target’s owned properties. Self-service offerings are intended to welcome more small- and mid-size advertisers into the fold, helping platforms achieve scale. Travis couldn’t share growth targets for Roundel Media Studio but said Roundel’s current advertiser network numbers within the hundreds.
Roundel Media Studio initially carries Target Product Ads, a sponsored product format, but eventually will serve as the destination for most of the network’s solutions. Roundel Media Studio is within the pilot phase now and can expand to more advertisers heading into 2024.
“We’re calling it the long run home for advertisers to access the breadth of Roundel’s media experiences,” said Travis. “It’s going to make it easier for smaller brands to work with us, which we predict is really necessary.”
Roundel Media Studio is also positioned around giving advertisers a wide range of buying options. Roundel is continuing work with third-party supply- and demand-side partners like Criteo, aiming to stave off accusations that the service could act as a walled garden, some extent of concern within the retail media space.
“We’ve all the time believed and advocated for a more open and versatile method to buy our media,” said Travis. “We need to make certain that we proceed to deliver flexibility, that we’re giving brands multiple buying options.”
Experiments and experiences
Roundel Media Studio complements the network’s other self-service tools, including Kiosk, a campaign reporting and measurement feature, and Programmatic by Roundel. The latter helps brands create custom audiences and reach them on brand-safe inventory off-site using real-time bidding and a demand-side platform of the marketer’s alternative. The hand-curated product is adding over 40 latest premium publishers to its roster, including The New York Times, AMC Networks and Hearst properties, as well as opening more app inventory. At the identical time, Roundel is moving from a set to dynamic pricing model.
“That is really necessary when it comes to allowing brands and agencies to have more control and deliver even higher performance,” said Travis.
The executive added that Programmatic by Roundel data shall be added to Kiosk in order that brands can measure their programmatic performance data alongside other buys on Roundel. Roundel’s programmatic business has grown by about 10 times because it launched in 2019, but Travis declined to share specific figures. Roundel, in total, generates hundreds of thousands in revenue for Target and stands as one among the most important retail media networks based on third-party evaluation.
On the more experimental end, Roundel is broadening the supply of a shoppable CTV format that entered testing several months ago. People watching ads on select streaming and TV partner services, including Animal Planet, Crackle and Sling TV, can scan a QR code so as to add products to their cart for purchase, with Target fulfilling the order for pick up.
The goal is to maneuver CTV from passive to more commerce-oriented viewing occasions, in response to Travis, an area that rivals like Walmart are also pursuing. A spokesperson shared Innovid CTV data that show over half of surveyed Target shoppers are subscribed to an ad-supported streaming service, a 24% jump from last yr.
“Brands can proceed to lean into our first-party data for targeting and measurement but, on this case, also tap in additional closely to our same-day services,” said Travis. “Holiday is an ideal time to have this available to a wider range of our advertiser base.”
Also on deck for the vacations: Shoppable digital rooms that may allow multiple brands to advertise around seasonal moments based on specific categories or guest segments and more bets on in-store retail media activations.
“As we head into holiday, we’re really eager about experiential,” said Travis. “Think things like big sampling events and offering unique Circle deals during those sampling events.”
Read the total article here
