Shopper and activations agency, XPO: The Mars Agency has officially launched its global fully-integrated Retail Media Division in Australia under its expanding Connected Commerce offering.
XPO: The Mars Agency’s Retail and Search Media Management offering marries in-market Shopper Marketing prowess with 20 years of global retail media and data driven measurement experience to bring unrivaled expertise to Australia.
Leveraging the extensive, industry-leading capabilities of The Mars Agency (which acquired XPO last April), the Retail Media division will be led by Jeremy Hagnere, who was recently appointed as Retail Media Director, joining the group from Cartology where he held the role as Director of Client Partnerships and Sales.
“XPO has a deep understanding of the retailer space and award-winning credentials in shopper marketing; The Mars Agency has two decades of global expertise in Retail & Search Media Management. That combination makes us perfectly positioned to help clients bridge the gap across brand, trade and retailer and meet their complex needs across the ever-expanding Commerce Marketing ecosystem,” says XPO: The Mars Agency Managing Director Sally Tobin.
With retail media on the rise in Australia (experts forecast a $1bn market by 2025*), Ms Tobin and the XPO:TMA team worked with brand partners to identify an emerging gap in the market – the need for trade media and shopper expertise in one place.
Coinciding with the launch and further strengthening the capability is the Australian rollout of Marilyn®, the industry’s first comprehensive Commerce [Shopper] Marketing Measurement platform, which will ensure that XPO: The Mars Agency’s clients gain complete transparency into the performance of their retailer focused activities. The proprietary marketing technology platform uniquely solves for the complexity that so often has kept Commerce Marketing from being evaluated within traditional ATL Marketing Mix Models — or poorly measured when it is included.
Hitting the ground running, XPO: The Mars Agency’s Retail Media offering launches in Australia with foundation client George Weston Foods’ Don Smallgoods, handing over the management of its trade marketing spend through the major retail media networks including Cartology (Woolworths Group), Coles 360 & Citrus Ad Search Media to XPO, in a bid to better measure and drive higher returns across the retailer media networks. Retail Media Management and Measurement is an extension of the agency’s remit with the agency already supporting the brand in shopper marketing and customer development initiatives.
“We are excited to partner with XPO The Mars Agency and the Marilyn® technology platform,” says Don Smallgoods Head of Marketing & Innovation Sophie Fetterplace. “We are looking forward to unlocking greater potential and effectiveness in Retail & Search Media through their management & platform learnings.”
“Traditional media agencies have struggled to understand the sweet spot in which retail media plays. It’s a delicate balance of trade and customer relationships, overlaid with an understanding of shopper needs as well as media management,” says XPO: The Mars Agency Retail Media Director Jeremy Hagnere. “Having worked with both brand and retailer clients across Customer Development and Shopper Marketing locally for the last 10 years, XPO: The Mars Agency is uniquely placed to solve this emerging need. We’re exceptionally excited for what lies ahead for our new Retail and Search Media Management offering, and the business more broadly.”
*Mi3’s 2021 retailer media report
