Kroger is parting ways with Microsoft to bring its advertising platform, Kroger Precision Marketing, in-house.
The new system, which the grocer has been working on for the past year, is currently in beta, but all sellers are set to make the transition in the fall.
Why we care With 2,700 stores in 35 states, Kroger is the largest supermarket chain in the US and has historically worked with more than 2,000 brands. Marketers who launched campaigns using the old ad platform noted that it was “clumsy” and unnecessarily time-consuming, as they were forced to navigate multiple systems to run a campaign. The new platform, however, acts as a one-stop shop where marketers can post their ads live and access data, meaning they can make informed decisions faster for potentially better ROI.
“This was not a decision we made lightly because Microsoft has been a great partner,” Dan Mayer, Vice President of Media Platform for Kroger Precision Marketing at 84.51˚, told Search Engine Land. “But this new platform gives [marketers] more control and the ability to act on data and insights much faster; we’re excited.”
featured The new platform will give marketers the power to:
Reach relevant audiences using search-based insights and custom ad groups. Design, iterate and activate creative messages within the platform. Customize and save multiple creative templates by brand and product. Optimize all campaign elements, including budgets, messages, and posts. Create reports and improve performance with deterministic retail data such as upsells, household penetration and unit increases.
While Kroger is excited to launch its new ad platform, Mayer emphasized that the system will always be a “work in progress” and that the team is looking forward to customer feedback.
“The media space is incredibly dynamic, so there’s a lot more to come. We want to continue to improve its features and functionality,” said Mayer.
Read on for highlights from my recent Q&A with Mayer for more details on Kroger’s new self-serve ad platform.
Kroger’s “biggest pain point.”
Marketers had been sending Kroger feedback about its old platform’s interface, saying it took an unnecessarily long time to go live with a campaign.
“One of the biggest pain points was their creative. “Place-targeted ads in particular were a bit of a disjointed experience because the campaign process started in one place, but you’d have to go out to create that creative in another place, and then you should come back! “The current state is a bit clunky if I’m honest. There are multiple systems [marketers] You must navigate to post a campaign. We had to somehow bring that experience into one platform.”
Take back control
For Kroger, addressing marketers’ biggest problem led to the difficult decision to move away from Microsoft and build an in-house self-serve ad platform, so its team of scientists could provide timely data real for more control.
“We like to think we have a healthy obsession with our customer experience and optimizing that experience. “[Going in-house] it gives us more direct control over that experience, as it allows us to deliver our data and science much more fluidly and quickly. “We now own the roadmap, we own the decision about the priority and what we can get into production and when, whereas in the past we were dependent on partners to bring these things to market. “With our new platform, [marketers] now you can come directly to us through a single point of entry and stay within this platform. You’re not bouncing around to other platforms to run campaigns.”
Sellers verdict so far…
While the new platform is still in beta and very early days, Kroger has already started gathering feedback.
“Feedback from marketers so far has been relief because of how we’ve simplified the process for them. “Marketers seem to appreciate the ease of use now, especially when it comes to setting up and activating campaigns. “They’re also excited about the science we’re bringing to them, and how quickly. We’ve implemented science successfully before, but now it’s a much faster process, and advertisers can see the benefits of that in the form of increased performance their campaigns. “But when we were making this platform, there were definitely points where we thought we had everything covered and then we’d go and test it and realize we’ve missed it, so we have to add a component of a function. . So I’m excited to get more feedback from our advertisers because this is a work in progress.”
next steps
Kroger’s new ad platform won’t roll out to all retailers until the fall, but the company is already looking ahead to next year and beyond.
“We’ll have all advertisers coming by the end of the year and we’ll be open to feedback they have to give as we continue to improve features and functionality. “Marketers will be able to provide feedback on the advertising platform. “We will also continue to build the platform through our other ad experiences in our off-site portfolio later this year and into next year. “At that time we are not reporting revenue or our financial goals, but we expect to continue to grow rapidly. Watch this space!”
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