Report: How CPGs, Grocers Are Responding to Digital Advertising Trends

Chicory recently released a report exploring how brands and grocery retailers are responding to key CPG advertising trends, including the rise of retailer media networks (RMNs), the depreciation of third-party cookies and the emergence of new media tactics such as commerce media.

Chicory’s “CPG and Grocery Digital Advertising Report” is based on survey results primarily from the company’s CPG clients as well as a select number of grocery retailer partners to offer a second point of view. In total, 29 industry experts (25 CPG and four grocery retail professionals) participated in the study.

Key data points from the report include:

• Growing e-commerce sales, followed by the rise of RMNs, had the greatest impact on CPG advertising strategies over the past 12 months, according to respondents.
• The emergence of new media tactics is expected to have the greatest impact on CPG advertising strategies over the next 12 months.
• 84% of respondents said in-recipe commerce media (e.g., shoppable recipes) will be the most popular commerce media tactic in 2023. Retail media strategies, on-site and off-site, closely follow.
• Amid inflation, add-to-cart value has increased 28% year-over-year while item count remains the same, according to Chicory recipe network data, signaling the strength of e-commerce channels during this time.

In addition, most CPG marketers said they are “satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their current RMN relationships. Retailers who choose to invest in their CPG relationships by expanding offerings that are working, improving services and addressing client concerns will likely see the largest growth in 2023, per the report. For retailers, the top challenges they faced in 2022 included:

• Managing different partners and technologies (due to the emergence of new media tactics).
• Alignment among internal teams that interact with the CPG community.
• Increased competition with other retail media networks.
• Competing for media spend with digital-first grocery delivery platforms.
• High advertising demand.

Looking ahead, CPG advertisers seem optimistic about digital advertising in 2023. Chicory’s analysis suggests that CPG advertisers are settling into their RMN relationships and are now shifting their attention to new advertising strategies to keep up with consumer demand.

Some other trends and predictions echoed by respondents regarding the future of grocery advertising related to growth in the metaverse, connected TV, increased privacy as well as a shift to prioritize off-site media with the latest integrations with DSP providers.