Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 52
Inspiration from across the world for retail enthusiasts, e-commerce professionals, marketing lovers and technology fans. Welcome back! I summarized some great links again, I stumbled upon this week.
🛍️Retail Media: data into money: retail media and owned data create ads You'll Actually Like?
Now, lets do a “retail media” topic. I stumbled upon this video from Marmon Retail Solutions. In the video, Jack O’Leary explains what retail media is and gives examples on how to utilize it. Besides that, the video has some research results that you might be able to use in your own retail media strategy.
Furthermore, the substack post I link below, is originated from an AdWeek post on this topic, has valuable insights for your retail media strategy as well.
It claims that in-store media outperforms other media channels.
After reading the article, I am curious, why the ad experience is better in-store. The article does not answer that. It also does not give best practices, on how to set up an attractive in-store ad experience. What are the frameworks to do so? I can imagine showing content on a fridge is very different than a narrowcasting setup in a store. I couldn’t find much research on that, maybe it’s too early. But will we actually get ads that we like? There is not always a “click” or engagement possible with retail media advertising, so I am not sure it will always be the case, however in digital environments when well setup, I think it is possible.
The top U.S. retailers have a unique audience reach of 100 million per month, on par with the top broadcast TV networks.
Unlike social or programmatic, retail ad inventory offers scarcity and brand safety in a premium environment. These branding benefits come with the bonus of contextual relevance and proximity to the point of purchase.
A recent Merkle study found that in-store media is now the No. 2 area of retail media investment and a top focus of 33% of retailers—up from just 9% in 2022.
Digital surfaces inside retailers’ four walls—whether at the front of the store, checkout, endcap, smart cart or cooler doors—deliver much of what brands want and what linear TV has lost: fast reach, high attentiveness, younger audiences and cultural relevance.
🙆🏼 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵: 𝗜𝗻-𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗩 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀
🧠 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗜𝗻-𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀
➡️ 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗜𝗻-𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱
The substack post referred to is this one:
🤓The easiest copywriting hack for ads by Dara Denning (use it!)
Make use of Dara Denning’s advice! Use emotional trigger words in your copywriting. Get the trigger words via ChatGPT. Do it, it works!
🌎As app interactions evolve, so must their design.
App interactions change. We used to use apps only on our phones. Nowadays there are many devices such as smart watches, widgets, and voice assistants. Therefore it’s important to design on actions and information instead of platforms according to this article.
I agree. It is basically a user story ++. User stories are made to achieve an outcome. I am still a big fan of user stories because they solve user’s needs. This is more or less the same. I encourage everyone to read this article, which is a bit technical at times but a must-read for every product manager and designer.
Details:
https://blog.viditb.com/action-centered-design/
🖼️ Cross-cultural and multi-lingual UX
One of the leading UX influencers is Vitali Friedman. I have some books of his and I follow his blogs and magazines. Recently he posted on Cross-Cultural Design. Below you see the graph (originally from Erin Meyer) on cross-cultural design. If you read this you can think of examples like:
For Italy (Emotionally Expressive & Confrontational): A feedback from to encourage open-ended responses, with features that allow users to express their opinions freely.
For Japan (Emotionally Unexpressive & Avoids Confrontation): A more polite form with multiple choice options.
⦿ Translation: “We adapt our message to resonate in other markets”.
⦿ Localization: “We adapt user experience to local expectations”.
⦿ Internationalization: “We adapt our codebase to work in other markets”.
🚫 Flags aren’t languages: avoid them for language selection.
✅ Always conduct UX research with local users.
✅ French texts are on average 20% longer than English ones.
✅ Japanese texts are on average 30–60% shorter.
✅ Most users prefer content in their native language(s).
Details:
🇨🇳 China uses the subway network for parcel distribution at night largely with autonomous vehicles.
Western minds can often not comprehend what is happening in China regarding technology, transportation and distribution. I found this post on X, on something that is happening already for a while. The use of the extensive subway system in Shenzhen to deliver parcels from the city’s wholesale area, to the port.
Now, you need to understand that Chinese subway systems (and especially the one in Shenzhen) are totally different from their western counterparts. They are highly modern, one subway train can have lengths of up to 232 meters, are very safe, most of the stations have great connections to other means of transport, distances that the subway covers are huge, you can be below ground for more than an hour or so, and technology simply works, escalators, elevators they work —> eat that Duivendrecht station (NL) where the escalator is already broken for 2 months now and I was stuck into the elevator for 10 minutes last week. Eat that GVB where the notifications in the subway almost always are not correct. Besides all of that, the Chinese subway is very affordable it is designed to connect and boost activity.
The video showcases the transportation of goods via the Shenzhen metro during off-peak hours, where autonomous vehicles are frequently employed to handle the logistics. Shenzhen, known for hosting the world's largest electronic wholesale market, efficiently utilizes its metro system for this purpose. I can recommend visiting Shenzhen’s electronic wholesale market it is an amazing experience!
The user on X who posted this added some more videos, I shortened the videos just to highlight the essence, but an awesome post from the user:
https://x.com/JRUrbaneNetwork/status/1821596752514056588
🇺🇸 Frictionless shopping: Amazon partners with TikTok & Pinterest
Smart move from Amazon. Frictionless shopping from social media via super apps might be a longer way to go in the West, this is an alternative. It even takes into account prime eligibility. It’s interesting, as this integration would also most likely see a decline in Amazon’s own app usage. But I guess they choose to accept that and prioritize this integration as it benefits the end user.
Maybe in 10 years in the European Union, I think this will be not allowed, regulatory challenges.
Amazon has partnered with TikTok and Pinterest to let the users of those social media apps buy products from Amazon without leaving those apps.
Details:
https://www.pymnts.com/news/social-commerce/2024/amazon-deals-expands-to-tiktok-pinterest/
📖🐔Online meets offline: Book Tok
Book Tok is a big community on TikTok and young kids follow their advise about which books to read
Via:
https://x.com/macastel3/status/1821800486548201547
🇨🇳 Alibaba’s world: Alibaba vs Ebay and localization
Browsed through this book again, read it a long time ago during a trip through China. Inspirative book on the history of Alibaba. It is called “Alibaba’s world” by Porter Erisman.
The story captured in this image highlights the strategic battle between eBay and Taobao in the early days of China's e-commerce boom. When Taobao offered its services for free, eBay dismissed this approach, arguing that "free is not a business model." However, Taobao's localization strategy, understanding the unique needs of Chinese consumers, and adding value through trust and user experience, ultimately resonated more deeply with the market. This incident underscores the critical importance of localization and value addition in global business strategy—tailoring offerings to meet local market conditions can make the difference between success and failure.
🇧🇷 Ads of the world: Brazil Brahma Beer
It’s already a bit older (may), but very nice to watch I think very well done, there’s some humor, brand, solving a problem, and some virality. Great ad!
This move isn't just about taking a beloved beverage global; it's about sharing a unique approach to enjoying festivities without a fret. Brahma Phone was the best option for partygoers for four days.
https://www.printmag.com/international-design/brahma-phone/
Greetings,