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Audio out-of-home spending surging in retail

We're seeing a significant focus on programmatic Audio Out-Of-Home ad spending within the retail space. Brands, agencies and retailers are capitalizing on the opportunity to speak directly to shoppers at the moment they're in stores, ready to make purchases.

Michele Oger, the retail media director at Vibenomics, said brands are placing more emphasis on AOOH to deliver deeper connections with consumers. Photo: i-Stock

January 18, 2022

By Michele Oger

Marketers continue to endure the ebbs and flows of COVID-19. The pandemic has forced everyone to pivot and remain more flexible than ever before, prioritizing new channels to dedicate their ad spend. With these changes, programmatic advertising budgets continue to increase, with expected ad spend approaching $100 billion in 2022.

Oger

We're seeing a significant focus on programmatic Audio Out-Of-Home (AOOH) ad spending within the retail space. Brands, agencies and retailers are capitalizing on the opportunity to speak directly to shoppers at the moment they're in stores, ready to make purchases. Unlike other in-store media types, such as endcap displays, printed marketing materials or at-shelf promos, shoppers are reached anywhere within the store environment.

Increase in in-store shopping

More people have returned to stores, a trend attributable to a variety of reasons. For example, retailers have strengthened protocols to ensure safe shopping experiences, focusing on meeting customers' comfort levels. According to OAAA's "Consumer Insights and Intent for Early 2022" report, consumers plan to visit a range of retail businesses — and with greater frequency — this year:

● 86% will visit grocery stores.
● 57% will visit retail stores.
● 54% will visit restaurants.
● 43% will visit drug stores and pharmacies.

As more people return to in-store shopping, AOOH advertising will play a pivotal role in brand marketing campaigns. Programmatic AOOH advertising empowers brands to reach target audiences by offering an efficient, data-driven strategy for buying and broadcasting audio ads directly to consumers.

It's no secret that today's savvy shoppers expect more from their shopping experiences. To grow and stay profitable, physical stores must think about their product value and experiential strategies to connect customers with the brand.

Building those bridges and cultivating loyal shopper relationships will require marketers and brands to incorporate media capable of creating memorable shopping experiences. AOOH technology complements the resurgence of in-store shopping's popularity, offering a reliable opportunity to engage customers throughout their buying journey.

Lingering supply chain issues

Even though the 2021 holiday shopping season wasn't as chaotic as some predicted, many supply chain issues still remain. Raw material shortages continue impacting the production of various items. Bottlenecks at ports and other transportation hubs haven't yet eased — so naturally, brands and retailers are more focused on getting their products on the shelves than enhancing customers' in-store experiences.

But while it will take time to mitigate the supply chain crisis, brands can navigate some of the challenges by sourcing locally, stretching resources, considering alternative products, and building connections with their customers.

With customers increasingly frustrated by a lack of items they want or need, AOOH gives brands the ability to broadcast targeted ads and messaging, strategically highlighting in-stock items for their in-store customers. We've conducted shopper surveys and know that shoppers who hear a Vibenomics-placed audio ad are more likely to purchase the advertised item. According to Suzy data collected in July 2021, Vibenomics audio ads generate 77% purchase influence or consideration.

Investing in the in-store experience

While people were still primarily shopping online, many retailers took advantage of decreased in-store traffic to update fixtures, implement new floor plans and introduce new products. Marketers upgraded too, refreshing marketing tactics with new approaches designed to elevate the in-store experience. These strategies include new price shelf-talkers, floor clings, enhanced in-store displays and more. Retailers need to continue their forward momentum with AOOH, which further elevates in-person shopping, empowering brands to boost their visibility and recognition via product ads. The added layer of AOOH advertising is an impactful, strategic component of strong retail media plans.

Programmatic OOH will continue to play an integral role in 2022, helping marketers reach consumers through various touchpoints on their path to purchase. Using targeted audio ads in public venues isn't new — combining audio's targetability with the other marketing tactics within the context of the shopping environment is. Moreover, the programmatic AOOH approach enables marketers to use contextual targeting in a one-to-many environment.

As omnichannel DSPs and brands continue evangelizing the standardization of digital-out-of-home (DOOH) channels into an industry-wide practice, the door to reaching audiences in less intrusive ways — like AOOH — remains wide open. AOOH belongs in every marketer's toolkit in 2022. Is it in yours?

Michele Oger is the retail media director at Vibenomics. She works to enhance Vibenomics sales efforts across various grocery and convenience store departments, including category management and retail media. She focuses on layering AOOH to support a holistic in-store marketing plan for Vibenomics retail customers. Michele is a retail and shopper enthusiast with 20 years of relevant experience in the space.