News Briefs

Brandcrush, an Australia-based retail media software and omnichannel platform company, has expanded into the U.S. market to help grocery retailers and CPG brands drive growth with centralized media management.

Brandcrush offers grocery retailers a software and network across touchpoints (in-store, out-of-store and online shopper media) and a scalable platform that integrates with financial, CMS and onsite media platforms to drive an end-to-end solution.

Brandcrush offers to simplify how companies buy and sell retail media as well as monetize retailers' omnichannel media touchpoints to grow their top and bottom lines with more efficient processes, according to a news release. Brands can grow ROAS by identifying which retailers and media optimize conversion, lower customer acquisition costs and fuel product discovery.

"We're excited to align our technology with the needs of the U.S. grocery retail market, as 80% of retail media assets remain underserved by adtech," said Brandcrush CEO and co-founder Teresa Aprile in the release. "Too often, media assets are hard to book and scale, and highly inefficient, scattered across fragmented, manual formats like spreadsheets, emails, PDFs and media kits. Bringing our centralized, digital solution to U.S. grocery retailers will help brands efficiently book any form of owned media and maximize retailers' media monetization potential."

Brandcrush says its media solution drives up to 30% revenue growth opportunity by making it easier to buy and sell owned media, and in excess of 25% operational efficiency gains through tech-enabled media management.

Marisa Thalberg, executive vice president, chief brand and marketing officer at Lowe’s, has left the company after almost three years.

Multiple outlets reported that her departure is part of a broader reorganization, which includes cutting Thalberg’s role and moving the retailer’s marketing team under Bill Boltz, EVP of merchandising.

In a lengthy post on LinkedIn, Thalberg bid farewell to her time at Lowe’s, citing accomplishments including the launch of Lowe’s One Roof Media Network, a partnership with New York Fashion Week and major marketing campaigns.

Additionally, Lowe’s has promoted Jen Wilson, a marketing and merchandising veteran who joined the company in 2006, to SVP of enterprise brand and marketing. 

Target will retain its chief executive Brian Cornell (pictured) for three more years. A a new agreement will keep the current CEO at the retailer into 2025, the mass merchant revealed in a news release. With Cornell staying, Target’s board of directors eliminated its retirement policy, which was designed to initiate a discussion regarding the possible retirement of its CEO at the age of 65.

“In discussions about the company’s longer-term plans, it was important to us as a board to assure our stakeholders that [Cornell] intends to stay in his role beyond the traditional retirement age of 65. We enthusiastically support his commitment and his continued leadership, especially considering his track record and the company’s strong financial performance during his tenure,” said Monica Lozano, lead independent director of Target’s board, in the release.

Additionally, Arthur Valdez, executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer, will retire from Target. He will be succeeded by Gretchen McCarthy, senior vice president, global inventory management, effective immediately. McCarthy will now report to John Mulligan, Target EVP and chief operating officer.

Valdez and McCarthy have partnered closely to ensure a smooth transition, and Valdez will continue working with the Target team in an advisory role through April 2023.

Publicis Groupe’s CitrusAd in August appointed Rob Odd as the first regional CEO for its Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) business.

Odd comes to CitrusAd and into the growing retail media industry after an extensive agency career. Over the past 20 years, Odd has held executive leadership positions for various agencies, most recently within the WPP network. According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent the last five years at Hogarth Australia marketing agency, serving in four different roles.

Odd will be responsible for the CitrusAd business across six countries — Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea — as well as for the company’s strategic partnerships in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. He will be tasked with focusing on team growth, customer success, strategic partnerships, client retention and new business development in the region.

“Retail media has already seen significant growth, but I believe we are still only scratching the surface of its potential,” Odd said in a news release.

CitrusAd says the addition of this role reflects the company’s focus on ensuring each region — Americas, APJ and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) — aims to drive growth and customer, and better positions the company to continue serving its retailer and advertiser partners.

“CitrusAd’s growth in Asia-Pacific and Japan has doubled in 2022, and with a strong pipeline from across the region, this is an important step in ensuring we respond to the needs of our growing retailer and advertiser network” said Adam Skinner, chief operating officer at CitrusAd, in the release.

“[Odd’s] diverse strengths and experience will provide a wealth of value as retailers commence new endeavors across on-site, off-site and in-store retail media in the APJ region,” added Skinner.

Marin Software has partnered with Snap Inc.'s social media app Snapchat to support ad campaigns through its flagship MarinOne platform. The integration with Snapchat’s marketing API provides advertisers with deeper insights to help improve the performance of their Snapchat campaigns through machine learning and automation.

The MarinOne platform unifies AI bidding, budget pacing, forecasting, performance insights and recommendations to help advertisers maximize the reach and impact of their Snapchat marketing investment. Advanced analytical grids provide flexible reporting across Snapchat campaigns in addition to paid media metrics from other social, search, display and e-commerce platforms all in one place, according to a news release from Marin Software.

“Snapchat has an enormous reach with millennial and Gen Z shoppers who hold $4.4 trillion in global spending power. This gives brands an incredible opportunity to drive brand awareness and revenue with their future customers,” said Chris Lien, Marin’s Chairman and CEO, in the release. 

Advertisers can optimize their Snapchat campaigns alongside other paid social campaigns as well as paid search, e-commerce, display and mobile app campaigns to help generate additional demand. Snapchat boasts roughly 7 million daily active users.

Ahold Delhaize’s Food Lion expanded its To Go grocery pickup service to 15 more stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, on Aug. 29. The retailer is offering shoppers their first pickup for free.

The service rolls out in time for the fall and holiday seasons, and shoppers can confirm availability and place orders through the Food Lion To Go website or mobile app and pick them up on the same day.

Food Lion continues to expand this service across the towns and cities it serves. Where allowed by law, customers 21 and older can also purchase beer and wine through To Go.

Additionally, by linking their personal Food Lion MVP savings loyalty card to their account, Food Lion loyalty members can use digital coupons and redeem “Shop & Earn” MVP rewards/savings. They can also see accumulated Shop & Earn rewards on their checkout screen and view which clipped digital coupons will be applied to their order. This is in addition to their MVP discounts, in-store promotions and weekly savings specials.

“We continue to offer Food Lion To Go at additional stores to help our customers spend more time on what matters most to them,” said Evan Harding, director of digital and e-commerce at Food Lion, in a news release. “We want to give neighbors the option to shop however they prefer, in-store or online, while still ensuring they have access to fresh groceries at affordable prices.”