Vibenomics, Stingray Advertising Create In-Store Retail Media Network
Mood Media’s in-store digital advertising provider, Vibenomics, and Stingray Advertising, a provider of retail audio ad solutions, have agreed to combine their respective networks to create an in-store retail media network for the U.S.
This collaboration will connect advertisers with approximately 800 million monthly shoppers through in-store digital audio advertising across more than 25,000 brick-and-mortar locations nationwide, according to a joint media release.
The network will encompass major retailers across key verticals, such as grocery, drug, convenience and home improvement. Expansion to other channels will continue in 2024.
The sales agreement streamlines programmatic advertising across both companies’ networks and their existing relationships with established accounts, per the release. This unified approach, “turn-key production services” and “comprehensive” reporting should allow advertisers to efficiently purchase digital audio advertising inventory across the combined network.
This solution caters to a wide range of categories/industries, including CPG, pharmaceutical, healthcare, consumer technology, entertainment sectors, or non-endemic brands and beyond.
This announcement comes amid significant growth for retail media networks, as U.S. retail media spending is on the rise, with projections to increase from $31 billion in 2021 to an anticipated $61 billion by 2024, according to research from eMarketer, cited by Mood Media and Stingray. In-store audio advertising is gaining momentum among brands for its ability to influence shoppers at the point of purchase. Plus, in-store shoppers still exceed online shoppers, per eMarketer.
“Current in-store advertising is fragmented and inconsistent,” Malcolm McRoberts, Mood Media CEO, said in the release. “Our new sales relationship with Stingray Advertising marks a transformative shift in the retail media landscape by creating a new standard for buying retail media that enables greater scale and deeper connections with shoppers. As retailers continue to invest in digital technology to elevate the in-store environment, the customer experience will be unmatched.”
“Joining forces with Mood Media enables us both to create the largest retail media network in the United States,” Eric Boyko, president, co-founder and CEO of Stingray, added. “Our combined national scale presents a unique advantage to the market with more consistency across networks, improved transparency and more predictable CPM [cost per thousand/cost per mile] and fill rates for retailers.”
The alliance will also leverage Mood Media’s solution suite, which provides on-premise media software solutions to more than 500,000 business locations across 140 countries through a cloud-delivered content platform, as well as Stingray’s in-store brand experiences for more than 140,000 locations worldwide.
[Also Read: Q&A: Mood Media and Vibenomics Merge]
In related news, Vibenomics also recently partnered with Placer.ai for visitation data and audience insights that it will use to build an accurate and addressable solution for audio and display advertising in stores.
Mood Media, based in Austin, Texas, acquired Vibenomics in March for an undisclosed amount.