Publicis Groupe and french retail corporation Carrefour Group are set to create a joint-venture to address the ‘booming’ retail media market in continental Europe and Latin America.
According to the ‘big six’ agency group, retail media is the fastest-growing channel for media spend and is expected to overtake TV advertising spend for U.S. consumer packaged goods companies in the next three years.
Through the partnership and as founding partners, Publicis and Carrefour will use their leadership positions in their respective industries to bring Europe and Latin America the same scale and connectivity that is enabling the ‘retail media boom’ in the US.
Combining Publicis’ advanced technologies and Carrefour Links’ retail media knowledge and expertise, this new venture will build a media player that addresses the entire retail media value chain.
“It will span technology for inventory creation and data sharing for merchants to the full commercialisation of media and data solutions for advertisers, backed directly by merchant transactions, across Continental Europe, Brazil and Argentina.,” Publicis added.
The intention of this move is to rally multiple new retailers, to build an ‘unparalleled network’ of inventories and accelerate the development of retail media in Europe and Latin America.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing campaigns sent straight to your inbox each morning
“We are going to create an alliance with an industry expert, the Publicis Groupe, to change three things: first, we will put tech at the heart of our model, second, we will go up in the value chain, by creating retail media solutions by ourselves, and third, we will conquer new markets, both in continental Europe and in Brazil,” Carrefour Group chairman and CEO, Alexandre Bompard, said.
“With this alliance, our digital transformation takes on a new dimension and allows us to access a new market with tremendous growth.”
The joint venture will be held 51% by Carrefour and 49% by Publicis Groupe.
Publicis Groupe chairman of the management board, Arthur Sadoun, added: “After the digital media revolution in the 2000’s and the social media revolution in the 2010’s, retail media is revolutionizing once again established hierarchies and opening up new opportunities for marketers.
“Until now, the fragmentation of the market in Europe and Latin America has made it difficult for brands to fully unlock its potential. This is why we are acting today.”
