Award-winning shopper and activations agency, XPO: The Mars Agency has launched its global fully integrated retail media division in Australia under its 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.
Leveraging the extensive, industry-leading capabilities of The Mars Agency, the retail media division will be led by Jeremy Hagnere, recently appointed retail media director, joining the group from Cartology where he held the role of director – 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 and 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,” XPO: The Mars Agency managing director, Sally Tobin said.
With retail media on the rise in Australia – forecast to reach $1 billion by 2025 – 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 strengthening the capability is the Australian rollout of Marilyn, the industry’s first comprehensive commerce [shopper] marketing measurement platform, to ensure clients gain complete transparency into the performance of their activities.
The proprietary marketing technology platform uniquely solves the complexity that often keeps commerce marketing from being evaluated within traditional ATL marketing mix models — or poorly measured when it is included.
“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,” XPO: The Mars Agency retail media director, Jeremy Hagnere said.
“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.”
XPO: The Mars Agency’s retail media offering launches with foundation client, George Weston Foods’ Don Smallgoods, handing over the management of their trade marketing spend through the major retail media networks including Cartology (Woolworths Group), Coles 360 and Citrus Ad Search Media to XPO.