The Retail Media “Zag”: Beyond Demand Capture
Retail media networks have reshaped performance marketing by turning first-party shopper signals into efficient demand capture. But brand investment has a different job. If every brand dollar meant to build awareness is directed into retail platforms that mostly intercept active shoppers, brands risk short-term sales wins at the expense of long-term growth. It is time to zag: treat retail media and brand marketing as distinct levers, not interchangeable line items.
Demand Capture vs. Brand Building: A Critical Distinction
Demand capture converts intent into purchase. It is indispensable for activation and sales efficiency. Brand building creates demand by expanding awareness, shaping preference, and forming emotional connections. Using retail first-party data to push product ads at people already shopping confuses interception with creation. Brand campaigns need reach, context, and sustained messaging to move non-shoppers into the consideration funnel.
Reimagining Brand Spend on CTV for Growth
Connected TV offers the scale and attention that brand marketers require. CTV reaches viewers in long-form contexts where narrative and emotion matter. Advanced targeting in CTV lets marketers reach audiences beyond the point of sale and build memory structures that lead to durable purchase intent.
Contextual and Emotionally Aligned Advertising
Matching ad tone to content increases receptivity. Ads that feel native to the viewing moment land deeper: a family-focused spot in a cooking show, or an aspirational message during a travel documentary, sparks relevance without relying on prior shopper signals. Context drives recall and affinity, which feed future conversion across channels.
Use-Case Targeting in CTV
Use-case targeting means reaching viewers during moments tied to product usage or life events. Imagine running laundry detergent creative in programming about home routines, or targeting outdoor gear during adventure series. This precision creates persuasive mental links between need and brand.
Optimizing for True Incremental Growth
Rebalance budgets so retail media continues to own conversion while CTV seeds future demand. Measure with rigorous incrementality tests, holdouts, and brand-lift studies. Align data strategies: let retail data optimize last-mile activation and let CTV audience and contextual signals drive reach and emotional resonance. The result is a coordinated funnel that wins both today and tomorrow.
Retail media should be a pillar of activation, not the sole destination for brand dollars. Brands that zag into CTV with contextual, emotional and use-case targeting position themselves to create demand, not just capture it.
