Publicis Groupe Introduces Retail Media Solutions Suite

Publicis Groupe is rolling out an integrated suite of retail media solutions that uses the data and technology of its Profitero analytics platform to drive commerce growth for brand clients and agencies.

The launch comes more than a year after the acquisition of Profitero, which furthered Publicis Groupe’s Power of One model of building a unified suite of commerce solutions and services.

The first two products in the new suite help brands optimize their retail media, content and organic search performance through a holistic approach, according to a news release from Publicis.

• Shelf Intelligent Media (SIM) is a product suite designed to enhance media activation, planning and measurement across the “largest” retail media networks, per the release. The products are powered by Profitero’s digital shelf product intelligence, which enables brands to holistically plan and optimize their investment with on-site and off-site retail media partners. SIM aims to help brands acquire new customers, drive revenue protection and improve conversion rates by automatically bidding on products based on digital shelf triggers, such as when competitive products go out of stock or when prices rise beyond a certain threshold.
• Shelf Intelligent Content is a suite of predictive intelligence products aimed at increasing conversion rates and sales by optimizing product detail pages and keywords on digital retail environments. The solutions were designed to proactively recommend improvements to product copy, titles, images and consumer reviews to grow sales impact.

Bryan Wiener, CEO of Profitero, said in a recent LinkedIn post that, “SIM enables brands to leverage product intelligence from the digital shelf to drive real-time buying decisions on retail media networks websites or off-site, whether display, [connected TV (CTV)], audio or in-store. For instance, a brand can bid aggressively on keywords and audiences when competitor products are out of stock or priced poorly enabling them to drive efficient new customer acquisition and improved ROI.”

Both solutions are underpinned by the service, scale and partnerships of Publicis Media, which serves to unify the fragmented ecosystem and connect brands to their customers across channels, per the release.

“Shelf Intelligent Activation helps brands reach and acquire new customers, improve their conversion rate and enhance their organic search performance by combining Profitero's digital shelf signals and predictive intelligence with keyword and audience targeting capabilities available on-site and off-site on the leading retail media networks," Wiener said in the news release. “By optimizing retail media and content together, versus in silos, brands now have a way to accelerate profitable growth faster.”

The debut of these two products follow the June 2022 launch of CitrusAd, powered by Epsilon, which came one month after Publicis Groupe’s Profitero acquisition. CitrusAd, powered by Epsilon, was created to bolster Publicis’ end-to-end retail media offerings and connect brands and retailers with technology and services via a single self-serve platform uniting CitrusAd’s on-site and Epsilon’s off-site capabilities.

“Publicis acquired Profitero last year with a belief that its industry-leading intelligence and technology could be aligned with the rest of the Groupe to accelerate profitable growth for all our clients and further advance our industry-leading retail media proposition,” Jay Askinasi, U.S. CEO, Publicis Media Exchange (PMX), said in the release. “Today we are realizing that vision.”

Other News from Publicis Groupe

Multinational supermarket giant Carrefour Group and Publicis Groupe officially launched (and named) their previously announced joint-venture, Unlimitail, to address the booming retail media market in Continental Europe, Brazil and Argentina. According to a news release the advertising company:

• Unlimitail will partner with retailers and brands, bringing the scale and connectivity for retail media to reach its full potential in those geographies.
• The venture is built using advanced technologies, CitrusAd powered by Epsilon and Carrefour’s retail expertise.
• In six months, Unlimitail has already converted its first 13 retail partners, together representing more than 120 million loyalty customers and 1.5 billion pages viewed a month: Kingfisher France, Groupe Galeries Lafayette, Rakuten France, Showroomprive Group, IDKIDS, LuisaViaRoma, MyOrigines, Bringo, Electra Group, Maquillalia, Juguetilandia, Public and 2 Carrefour franchise partners in Morocco (LabelVie) and Israël (Electra Consumer Products).