Tinuiti at Adweek Commerce Week 2022
Adweek Commerce Week 2022 brought an impressive group of marketing experts and retail leaders to the stage for an information and inspiration-packed 3-day event (July 26 – July 28, 2022). Like our own recent Tinuiti Live, Adweek took a hybrid approach to this year’s event, with virtual attendees tuning in across the globe, and in-person attendees gathering in NYC.
Each day of Commerce Week 2022 featured sessions structured around a common theme:
- Day One: What’s New and Next for Managing Customer Relationships
- Day Two: Engaging Consumers Online and IRL
- Day Three: How to Embrace a Purpose-Driven Strategy and Staying True to the Brand’s DNA
On Day 1 of the event, two Tinuiti all-stars—Shaun Brown and Elizabeth Marsten—shared their insights alongside leaders from Instacart, Walmart Connect, and Kellogg’s.
Check out some highlights from each of their engaging sessions below…
The Retail Ecosystem
Shaun Brown, EVP Commerce, Tinuiti
Julie Bowerman, Chief Marketing Officer, Kellogg’s
Diana Finster, Head of Agency and Tech Partnerships, Walmart Connect
Tinuiti’s EVP of Commerce, Shaun Brown oversees marketplaces, retail media, and retail operations across all Tinuiti clients working with key retailers and Amazon. He was joined by Julie Bowerman from Kellogg’s, and Diana Finster from Walmart Connect, to explore the myriad ways the retail ecosystem (and by extension, advertising) has evolved, and continues to evolve, over the past few years—due to supply chain issues, changing shopper behavior, cookie deprecation, and more.
Shaun kicked off the conversation with a few important numbers to consider in understanding how the omnichannel retail ecosystem of today impacts every industry, and how we got here, including significant growth in overall ecommerce shopping, digital grocery, click and collect, and social commerce.
“A huge winner out of all that is retail media—306% growth. $61B is going to be spent in retail media by 2025. That is a massive shift in how we have to think about our media dollars, how we connect with shoppers, the roles that retailers play, and how brands have to rethink how they go to market. But it’s not all digital—retail is still really, really important. 81% of sales are still happening in stores. But stores are becoming more digital. Really it’s about understanding the total ecosystem and how these all work, and that’s what today is about.”
— Shaun Brown, EVP Commerce at Tinuiti
Brown then turned to Bowerman and Finster for Q&A aimed at learning more about how Kellogg’s and Walmart have adapted to the shifts in the retail landscape from a brand and retail perspective.
How Walmart and Kellogg’s are Addressing the New Ecosystem
“One thing we talk about at Walmart is commerce on the customer terms. So it’s not just digital, it’s not just in store—it’s sort of like a blending of that. And you see this crossover happening for us in store. I think we have about 69% of our customers who when they’re in the store, they’re actually on the app, in the online stores, looking—and looking at the brands, looking at ratings and reviews—so you see this interesting blend, even as they are in the store.”
— Diana Finster, Head of Agency and Tech Partnerships, Walmart Connect
“I think one of the things that has pushed brands frankly towards omni is that the retailers have shifted so dramatically that way…Amazon was kind of the behemoth in online grocery, and then Walmart started catching up, and now there’s a proliferation. And the retailers have merged their buying behaviors; their media teams are thinking omni. And so for us to continue to be valued partners with retailers, we had to think that way, too. It is the shopper experience, but it’s the way we’re going to win with really important customers.”
— Julie Bowerman, Chief Marketing Officer, Kellogg’s
Advice on Balancing In-store, ecommerce and Retail Media
“We really leaned in with Walmart particularly as they have built their capabilities in not only the media space, but data, particularly. That’s been an important way for us to work with a partner like Walmart to say, “Help us connect that full funnel.” That’s our destination—how do you become my measurement and data solution for me to prove to my brand organization that thinking in that integrated way—ya know, lower funnel drives some of the upper-funnel metrics—how do you help me, from a measurement standpoint, bring new measurements to the table that I can internally educate our sales teams [and] brand teams to say, “This is driving value beyond just even transaction.” I’d say that balance of retailer media with branded media is so critical for us.”
— Julie Bowerman, Chief Marketing Officer, Kellogg’s
“We have this One Walmart Omnichannel Program (1W) where we’re bringing together, across all the different touch points, opportunities for shoppers, for brands, to go across all of these…whether it’s shoppable livestreams, or it’s opportunities for site ops placements, O&O (owned and operated channels)—across all of these different facets, there’s opportunities to connect.”
— Diana Finster, Head of Agency and Tech Partnerships, Walmart Connect
Solutions and Innovations to Address the New Reality
Next, Brown asked Bowerman and Finster what solutions were being built within Kellogg’s and Walmart to address the new reality. Bowerman focused on the importance of evolving, streamlining, and scaling Kellogg’s measurement methods and metrics, while Finster shared the ways in which Walmart has grown and expanded to help brands reach customers across all touch points, including across the web, on Walmart.com, through social media, pickup & delivery, the Walmart app, and in Walmart brick and mortar stores.
Diving specifically into innovations, automations, and accelerations, they shared…
Walmart
- Enhancing performance, including their recent launch of a second-price auction
- Making it easier for brands to buy and reach their customers (ex. Adding more API partners, like Tinuiti, who can manage brands’ campaigns)
- Enhancing Display Self-serve options
- The option to buy and manage off-site Display through their Trade Desk DSP partnership
Kellogg’s
- Embedding commerce throughout the full funnel, looking for new solutions
- Redefining how they think about audiences
Final Takeaways
The session closed with top takeaways from Brown, Bowerman, and Finster, providing attendees with an agency perspective, brand perspective, and retailer perspective. Be sure to tune into the recording for all the great insights!
Down the Funnel & Into the Cart: Crafting a Full-Funnel Instacart Ad Strategy
Elizabeth Marsten, Group Director, Strategic Marketplace Services, Tinuiti
Suzanne Skop, Director, Agency Sales, Instacart
Instacart’s Suzanne Skop joined Tinuiti’s Elizabeth Marsten to explore the challenges advertisers face in today’s full-funnel experience, exciting new Instacart ad types and brand opportunities, and how to most effectively leverage those ad types in your Instacart advertising campaigns.
Skop kicked things off with some compelling Instacart stats, and devoted time to unpacking the Instacart consumer mindset. While many other leading ecomm channels in their space are focused on search-driven quick trip or single-item shoppers, shoppers come to Instacart not only to grab what they already want or need, but also for fresh ideas.
“Instacart is all about discovery. Our Instacart consumers are looking for inspiration—ideas on what to eat. They’re walking the virtual store aisles, and they are building a very full basket. And they are doing it at the local retailers that they know and love.”
— Suzanne Skop, Director, Agency Sales, Instacart
What’s New and Next from Instacart
Skop shared that Instacart has a goal of shifting from a bottom-funnel transactional buy to an inspirational shop, creating “an experience that allows consumers to find their favorite products that they love quickly, but also inspires them when they might not know exactly what they are looking for.” Some recent and upcoming launches that align with that goal include Display ads, Brand Pages, and last-minute additions services.
Instacart Display Ads
Instacart launched Display ads in Q4 2021, giving advertisers the opportunity to expand beyond sponsored product ads to create awareness, increase consideration, re-engage with former purchasers who haven’t shopped your brand in awhile, and “stay top-of-mind with consumers during everyday shopping moments” on the platform.
Skop explored how to optimize your display advertising campaigns for performance, considering different objectives, which lever to pull for those objectives, and the resulting tailored solution.
Some top considerations regarding Instacart’s new display ad offering include:
- First price
- Behavioral or keyword targeting
- Ideal for upper-funnel and mid-funnel reach
Instacart Shoppable Display Ads
Skop shared that Shoppable Display ads are coming out of their pilot period, and will be available in coming weeks. These ads are served in search results, and will allow consumers to add the advertised products to their carts right from the ad. Advertisers will also be able to direct links to their product display pages or Brand Pages (explained below) where shoppers can learn more about the advertised item.
Instacart Shoppable Video Ads
Currently in pilot, Instacart Shoppable video ads are 3-30 seconds long. Some key considerations for these ads include:
- Add-to-cart functionality for products featured below the video (up to 3)
- Shopper can learn more by clicking the item detail page within the ad
- Video is autoplay, but the volume is muted unless the shopper clicks to turn on the sound
Instacart Brand Pages
Instacart is giving brands the opportunity to carve out their own corner of the app with dedicated Brand Pages, built within Ads Manager. Similar to Amazon Stores, these pages are free to build, help you tell your brand story, live on a distinct URL, and include:
- Brand logo
- Header image
- Curated collections
- Item availability
- Lifestyle images
- Add-to-cart functionality
- Can be built for each of your brands and sub-brands
- Can be evergreen or seasonal (ex. BBQ season)
- Closed-loop reporting in Ads Manager to understand engagement
“This is an area for brands to create a highly curated shopping experience by using everything from lifestyle imagery, hero imagery—you can include promotions and your savings, as well as your own content, like curated recipes.”
— Suzanne Skop, Director, Agency Sales, Instacart
A Solid Instacart Foundation
Skop then passed the mic to Marsten so she could add further context and insights into how to most effectively leverage the new and existing opportunities from Instacart in your own campaigns, starting with three foundational pillars.
Three Pillars for a Solid Instacart Foundation
- Product Coverage & Completeness
- Advertising & Testing
- Sufficient Budget
Instacart Ad Types Go Full-Funnel
After exploring the three pillars, Marsten dove into which self-serve Instacart ad types and which branding opportunities are best suited for reaching shoppers at each stage of the funnel, from awareness (Brand Pages and Onsite Display) to consideration (Onsite Display) to conversion (Sponsored Products).
She also covered how/where Instacart-managed opportunities can be best utilized across the funnel, including coupons, delivery promotions, and hero banner/aisle offerings.
Considering all stages of the funnel—and all self-managed and Managed options currently available from Instacart—Marsten presented a recommended Instacart Ads Campaign Structure worth bookmarking!
Next, Marsten provided thoughts on how to maximize your reach with your product mix, test your bounds with the Bid Landscape Tool, and optimize your bidding for the highest return on low-touch campaigns. She also delivered on an earlier promise of a funnel within the funnel, highlighting how to effectively use self-service Display to expand awareness, and increase consideration, share, and category growth on Instacart.
Instacart Media Build Based on Common Goals
Marsten then looked at how Instacart’s ad types align with differing campaign goals, providing brands and advertisers with further actionable insights to aid in building the most strategic campaigns.
She closed the session by sharing some compelling case studies, key takeaways, and something introverts understand all too well…
“A full-funnel approach is available like never before, so test it out before Q4. A lot of traffic in Q4 is not right before Thanksgiving, like you would think it is; it’s the week after, because everyone is tired of other people. They just want it brought to them, so keep that in mind.”
— Elizabeth Marsten, Group Director, Strategic Marketplace Services, Tinuiti
Want to learn more? Check out the session recording here, Elizabeth’s latest post comparing the Top 12 Retail Media Networks, and our fully stocked inventory of Instacart blog posts.
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