Digital Media Better Connects Brands and Consumers in Refrigerated Aisles

In-store retail media from Cooler Screens and other companies has been steadily gaining ground in retail, offering consumers “cooler” ways to shop and make informed purchasing decisions. Now Cooler Screens is helping brands reach shoppers more effectively by partnering with Place Exchange, a programmatic technology platform.

Cooler Screens' programmatic partnership with Place Exchange is said to be an industry-first collaboration drawing brands closer to the customer decision-making process in cooler aisles across retailers such as Walgreens, The Kroger Co., Giant Eagle and CVS. Cooler Screens' latest ad space evolution provides granular and expansive control over a brand's presence in-store while helping consumers make more informed purchases.

With more than 10,000 screens across 700-plus retail locations, Cooler Screens allows brands and agencies to reach more than 95 million viewers a month. Through programmatic ad spaces, consumers can receive contextually relevant branded content while in a shopping mindset, empowering them to make better decisions and strengthening their relationship with their product of choice.

"Cooler Screens' new ad offerings unlock opportunities for interactive media to connect with consumers through full-screen 4K digital displays," said Arsen Avakian, co-founder and CEO of Chicago-based Cooler Screens. "Programmatic ad buys give brands unique, validated advertising solutions at scale to drive increased sales and brand equity simultaneously."

"Today's consumer shopping experience bridges the digital and physical worlds, and it's critical for marketers to engage consumers and unify messaging across the shopping journey," added Ari Buchalter, CEO of New York-based Place Exchange. "Combining advanced targeting and measurement capabilities with the impact of life-sized real-world messaging at the point of sale, in-store media is an incredibly powerful addition to the marketing mix, and we are excited to partner with Cooler Screens to transform the in-store marketing category."

Omnicom Media Group is the first to leverage in-store retail ad space for programmatic media, interfacing with customers in brick-and-mortar stores across the country. "As retailers are launching new and evolving formats in their stores and enabling programmatic access to that inventory, this provides the opportunity for our brands to connect with consumers at the point of purchase with a new level of relevance," said Megan Pagliuca, chief activation officer at New York-based Omnicom Media Group.

Demand-side platforms, including Salt Lake City-based Quotient, will facilitate the delivery of in-store digital media to consumers through the Place Exchange integration. Quotient’s demand-side solutions enable ad buyers to better manage campaign goals at scale and raise both brand awareness and consideration through contextually relevant ads in store aisles.

The isn't the first time that Quotient and Place Exchange have collaborated. In November 2021, Quotient partnered with Place Exchange to enable its advertiser clients to reach consumers at the point of purchase via InStore Audio Network’s digital audio program at supermarket and drug store chains.

Meanwhile, another point-of-decision platform can be found in more beer and wine aisles. Texas grocer H-E-B recently rolled out the Loop video platform in 120 of its stores to share producer stories as well as topics like nutrition, tasting notes and pairing suggestions. The digital system rolled out at Schnuck Markets last year and is also used at Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.