Audio Out-Of-Home As A Layer Of Retail Media

By Paul Brenner

It’s true that during the pandemic, many people shifted their shopping habits to purchase more products — including groceries — online. But 84% of shoppers still visit physical stores, and 70% prefer to shop in person, providing brands with the perfect opportunity to capitalize on brick-and-mortar stores.

Those who portrayed brick-and-mortar stores as a relic of retail’s past have had to backtrack significantly. Once restrictions allowed shoppers to return to physical stores, in-store sales grew faster than e-commerce sales for the first time in retail’s recorded history.

With customers spending more time in stores, brands have a greater opportunity to use audio ads for messaging. According to Deloitte, retailers must constantly adapt their in-store experiences to fit customers’ evolving priorities, preferences, and concerns. One such adaptation is to leverage in-store audio to contribute to a more enjoyable shopping experience. A store’s audio can broadcast music, and brands can use the system to target shoppers with advertisements encouraging them to add another product to their carts.

A New Tune With Retail Media

Digital out-of-home advertising exists everywhere: billboards, place-based displays, and mobile. Each of these channels has a role in driving consumer purchases, whether online or in physical stores. As a complement to other digital out-of-home advertising, in-store audio elevates retail marketing campaign performances.

Stores provide the perfect listening hall for brands to reinforce the messaging of their media campaigns. Retail media shouldn’t stop with its current solutions. Audio Out-of-Home (AOOH) is a valuable digital tool and layers well with others in the retail media toolbox, boosting brand visibility, recognition, and reach while enhancing in-person shopping experiences for customers.

When used in conjunction with other digital activations, AOOH gives marketers a chance to increase their campaigns’ performances by providing a medium to highlight specific products over a store’s audio system at the point of purchase. For example:

• Shoppers can’t skip audio ads in the store the way they can bypass digital ads on various streaming platforms.
• AOOH ads generate a 24% higher recall rate than traditional display ads.

Turn Up The Volume With Audio Out-Of-Home

Shopper experiences aren’t just about eCommerce and addressable channels. Whether consumers are scrolling apps, scheduling deliveries, watching or listening to offsite media outlets — or humming along with the tunes played over stores’ audio systems — those consumer moments matter.

When agencies buy media to drive the shopping experience, AOOH provides another layer impacting the end of the funnel via contextual audio. This layer encourages more purchases at the point of sale. Radio ads don’t have this power simply because they lack the footprint. In-store screens require more action from shoppers, who must take time to stop and watch the ad before deciding whether to add the product to their shopping carts.

Agencies are beginning to view AOOH as a bridge to a more inclusive media journey. Many retail marketers and brands agree. One report estimates the ad spend for programmatic advertising will hit nearly $100 billion this year.

Retail Media’s Variation On A Theme

Retailers initially used retail media as an eCommerce-only platform to promote and advertise products online. But it’s become much more significant as consumers modify their shopping behaviors. We’re in the midst of an evolution — the growth of a more omni-channel shopping journey.

Retail media’s definition continues to broaden. On multi- and omni-channel shopping journeys, shoppers already experience a plethora of audio and visual, digital and print, and experiential communication via merchandising displays.

We’re seeing a revolution, with digital in-store media expanding to include audio advertising. And it’s no secret that speaking to shoppers directly — when they’re already planning to make purchases — has value. Brands and advertisers have seen the benefit of layering AOOH into the strategy of building inclusive media experiences, driving ROI for brands, and impacting shoppers at the point of purchase.

Ultimately, AOOH empowers brands to educate, influence, and direct shoppers storewide, engaging them as soon as they enter the door, along their shopping journey, and through the checkout process. When marketers incorporate this technology, they boost brand awareness and elevate their retail media plans with a strong strategic component that nurtures brand loyalty and increases ROI.

About The Author

With more than 25 years of experience in media & entertainment and technology leadership, Paul Brenner served in several c-suite roles, including division President with Emmis Operating Company [NASDAQ: EMMS]. As President of NextRadio/TagStation, his work focused on global innovation through FM Chip activations in all smartphones for audience measurement, improved in-car user experiences, and data attribution platforms for all broadcast radio. In 2019, Paul joined Vibenomics as Chief Strategy Officer to help develop the go-to-market strategy for the company’s first-to-market Audio Out-of-Home™ advertising solution. After a successful launch, Brenner was promoted to President of Audio OOH to oversee all efforts surrounding revenue-generating activity and related partnerships and recently joined the DPAA Research Committee and new IAB Retail Media Committee.