Opening Season 3 of The Meaningful Media Podcast, host Ben Downing sits down with Alex Hase, General Manager and Chief Revenue Officer at software-as-a-service solution provider Mirakl and Molly Hop, EVP Market, Havas Media Network to explore how businesses can deliver digital growth by getting the media experience right from all perspectives of ecommerce. Key themes in this meaningful conversation: The evolution of Retail Media “Retail media is not a new concept. Digital retail media is blossoming significantly but it’s really about trying to engage consumers in that path to purchase so you can influence and/or expose them to things they might not otherwise have been exposed to. Whether brand or retailer you are either trying to complement the path to purchase the consumer is already on or you’re trying to identify something that you think they might benefit from,” explains Alex Hase. Marketplaces & Opportunities for Growth Customers want to buy everything, anywhere, and have it delivered quickly. To do that retailers need to address that need. “For retailers, they are addressing this new world and how to combine it with in store experience, so they don’t cannibalise their retail experience. For brands, they are asking how they can directly interact with their consumers and help them understand the full portfolio of goods available to them,” says Alex Hase. Marketplaces enable sellers to sell their products on a retailer’s ecommerce site. Another opportunity is 'drop ship' where a retailer brings a brand on board to carry out the fulfilment of a specific product. Role of Agency for Brands Amazon has proven to retailers there’s an opportunity to monetize your platform, and your first party data, ushering in a new business model which has driven retailers to expand how they bring in revenue. Support for brands to ensure they are getting the best value on this critical path is essential and a key role for agencies. Our guests discuss the value of first party data as a data targeting opportunity and a layer for consideration in the media experience. On Brands and Media investment Consumers’ ability to purchase and shop everywhere is changing the discussion around media plans for brands.“Retail media is a brand experience and in and of itself helps to build brands,” underlines host Ben Downing. New Ways to Advertise The conversation turned to seismic shifts, like shoppable ads in connected TVs, carving out new ways to monetize media. Molly Hop shares: “Shopper marketing and in-store bricks and mortar are one of the first ways people were advertised to. Now we’ve had the shift and are able to reach anybody anywhere.”   Social Commerce in ‘test and learn’ phase Social commerce means expanding into a complex context but one which holds great opportunity. Molly cautions that understanding what consumers want in this context is crucial: “Social Commerce is a ‘big hairy beast’ that we’re all trying to navigate. There are a lot of wins, for example with TikTok, with advertisers being really smart about building a shopping experience that’s organic to the environment it’s in."  Enjoy!   🎧 We’d love to hear your thoughts about meaningful media. Drop us a line! [email protected].    Like, share, follow and connect with us on our socials!  ⭐ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/havasmedianetwork/  ⭐ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/havas-media  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.