Australia – XPO: The Mars Agency, a shopper and activations firm, has revealed the opening of its retail media division in Australia as part of its growing connected commerce offering. Jeremy Hagnere has been appointed as the agency’s retail media director, and adds insight gained from his prior position at Cartology as director of client partnerships and sales.
The retail and search media management product from XPO: The Mars Agency offers capabilities to the Australian market by fusing their expertise in shopper marketing with 20 years of experience in global retail media and data-driven measurement.
XPO:TMA partnered with their brand partners to identify a market gap and highlight the need for trade media and shopper expertise in a single solution after realising the expanding significance of retail media in Australia.
The industry’s first Commerce Marketing Measurement platform, Marilyn®, became available in Australia as a result of XPO: The Mars Agency’s division launch. The ambiguity that hinders the assessment of Commerce Marketing within standard ATL Marketing Mix Models is solved by Marilyn®’s total transparency into the performance of retailer-focused operations.
Don Smallgoods of George Weston Foods is the foundational client for The Mars Agency’s Retail Media solution following its Australian debut. The management of their trade advertising funds will be managed by XPO across the top retail media networks, including Cartology (Woolworths Group), Coles 360, and Citrus Ad Search Media. Improving measuring capabilities and boosting profits are the goals across retailer media networks. Through this effort, XPO will continue to support George Weston Foods’ customer development and shopper marketing initiatives.
Sally Tobin, XPO: The Mars Agency Managing Director, said, “XPO has a deep understanding of the retailer space and award-winning credentials in shopper marketing; The Mars Agency has two decades of global expertise in Retail & Search Media Management. That combination makes us perfectly positioned to help clients bridge the gap across brand, trade and retailer and meet their complex needs across the ever-expanding Commerce Marketing ecosystem,”
Meanwhile Hagnere commented, “Traditional media agencies have struggled to understand the sweet spot in which retail media plays. It’s a delicate balance of trade and customer relationships, overlaid with an understanding of shopper needs as well as media management. Having worked with both brand and retailer clients across Customer Development and Shopper Marketing locally for the last 10 years, XPO: The Mars Agency is uniquely placed to solve this emerging need. We’re exceptionally excited for what lies ahead for our new Retail and Search Media Management offering, and the business more broadly.”