Each year, Back-to-School shopping begins earlier and earlier, with overwhelmed parents and students often juggling multiple lists that grow more expensive seemingly by the day. Here at Infillion, we know that our suite of products is capable of reaching parents wherever they are to deliver relevant, interactive creative ad experiences that cut through the noise and help them navigate Back to School as painlessly as possible. 

Infillion’s Creative Studio decided to dig into the pain points of Back to School so you don’t have to — and we’re reporting back to share some insights and solutions for how brands can really empower back-to-school shoppers this season. 

First of all, let’s clarify our audiences. Back-to-school consumers fall into two categories: 1) K-12 and 2) College. K-12 shoppers are often parents searching for school supplies that range from pencils and notebooks to backpacks and lunch boxes to calculators and tablets. College shoppers are often students themselves, who are shopping for all of the above as well as for dorm room furnishings. 

Both of these groups are often on tight budgets but face complex school shopping lists and rising costs. This makes them beholden to sales – and the dates for these sales can be unpredictable. The fact that Amazon Prime Day usually occurs around July 11 means that now 56% of Back-to-School shoppers begin shopping in early July, much earlier than they used to and not long after the prior school year ends, putting additional financial pressure on already-stretched budgets. 

In 2023, 67% of consumers indicated that they’d noticed higher prices on back-to-class items. To account for this, we’re seeing increases in comparative shopping ( +2% YoY), shopping more sales (+3%), buying generic products (+4%) and using coupons (+3%). 

So what do we propose to hit these pain points? Bring an interactive shopping experience directly to consumers that helps them solve their Back to School problems themselves. Here are three engagement strategies for Infillion’s TrueX ads that can get your creative juices flowing:

1. Give Back Information: A Comparative Shopping Experience that provides users with helpful context they can compare-and-contrast about various school supplies.
2. Give Back Time: An All-In-One Online Shopping Trip with products for every category of Back to School shopping.
3. Give Back Resources: A Transparent, Dynamic, Flexible Sales-Focused Unit that tells users exactly what’s on sale that they should take advantage of now.

These experiences can be as turnkey or as custom as each brand would like them to be. We can even include additional enhancements, such as Time of Day or Weather-based Reactivity to provide even more personalized recommendations to consumers. 

While everything mentioned above can also apply to college students, we have a few additional insights into the college student population that change our approach to how to ease their Back to School shopping experience.

This is a busy cohort — 51% work full-time, 21% work part-time — so time is a valuable resource and budgets are often tight. Also, 65% of college students regularly enjoy video games, meaning a gamified shopping experience could resonate extra well with this demographic. Here are some ideas for how we can create an optimal Back to College shopping experience:

1. Give Back Time: Meet Them Where They’re At with an interactive gaming unit using school supplies, dorm decor products, and more. 
2. Give Back Information: Help With Room Planning by allowing students to explore how different products look set up in a dorm room setting.
3. Give Back Resources: Create Multiple Entry Points with a location-based strategy that attempts to catch busy students when they’re out and about near brick-and-mortar locations.

The sky’s the limit for how creative we can get with these activations. To appeal to students hungry for innovation, we can include state-of-the-art enhancements such as Voice Activation where the user can speak to command the action, or a Second-Screen Experience where the user can control what’s happening on their TV screen with their phone. 

Our strategic approach to Back to School has worked well in the past, resulting in an average BVCR of 100%, CTR of 3.4%, 56s time spent, and 2 interactions across past Back to School campaigns. The average Back to School campaign also drove:

• +28% Brand Awareness lift

• +36% Purchase Consideration lift

• +16% Purchase Intent lift

This can be a stressful time of year for parents and students — but working with Infillion can help ease some of that stress and help create an optimal shopping experience for both consumers and brands.

We’re here to help! Reach out to us for any questions you may have about your Back-to-School campaigns. 

The traditional purchase funnel has long been a staple in understanding consumer behavior. This framework has historically illustrated the journey consumers undertake, starting from the “Awareness” phase and concluding at “Purchase” or “Loyalty.” Yet, new findings from Infillion’s Customer Journey Research Report challenge this conventional model.

The Widening Consideration Phase.

Traditionally, the “Awareness” stage was viewed as the widest part of the funnel, indicative of consumers at the threshold of discovering new products or services. Yet, our recent data paints a different picture, revealing an astounding 45% of respondents actively considering diverse brands and products, in contrast to the mere 6% still in the awareness phase. In other words, there are plenty of brands that consumers are aware of but haven’t yet decided are worth buying. In some cases, they might have been aware of a brand for years or even decades, but haven’t had the catalyst in their lives that suggests they should become a customer. Cynics call this the “brand dead zone.” We call it “constant consideration” – and we see it as an opportunity for innovative advertising.

In our current digital era, the barrage of information is unyielding. Be it subtle banner ads or persuasive influencer endorsements, consumers are perpetually cataloging. And this cataloging doesn’t always translate into an immediate purchase. 

Embracing the Era of Constant Consideration.

The 2023 study of 779 adults, all of whom had engaged with a new brand in the past six months, offers profound insights into modern shopping behaviors. The findings underscore that shopping has morphed into a consistent aspect of daily life, rather than a sporadic or intentional act. A striking two-thirds of these consumers admitted to ordering products on a weekly basis. More revealing, 95% of those who had just completed a purchase were already contemplating their next buy. In other words: Shopping is now an always-on behavior.

Such data confirms that we’re truly in the age of constant consideration. With a treasure trove of information at their fingertips, consumers aren’t just passive participants; they’re in a continuous cycle of evaluation, purchase, and re-evaluation.

Download the Full Report Here

Strategies for Maximizing Attention.

To navigate this evolving landscape and ensure they’re taking full advantage of consumer attention, advertisers can adopt the following strategies:

1. Consistent Brand Messaging: In a world where consumers are perpetually deliberating, consistency in branding becomes paramount. If consumers have been following your messaging passively and it suddenly takes a very different turn, they may not yet be engaged enough to follow along. You’ll lose their attention quickly.
2. Engage Beyond the Sale: A pause in the purchase process is not a sign of disinterest. Infuse value through enriching content, immersive experiences, or loyalty programs to remain within the consumer’s sphere of consideration. Offering game-based ads, for example – we all love getting competitive, after all – can help you hold consumers’ attention and remain top-of-mind even if they aren’t yet ready to purchase.
3. Understand Consumer Triggers: Every consumer has a catalyst – be it a discount, a seasonal demand, or a peer’s endorsement. Harnessing these insights can be pivotal. Infillion’s first-party targeting uses geolocation, AI-powered surveys, and more to gain unique insights about consumers, allowing brands to target consumers known to be more discount-friendly or who may be more receptive to messaging while at home versus the office.
4. Leverage Retargeting: In the digital domain, retargeting isn’t just a strategy; it’s a gentle nudge, a reminder of interest, steering the consumer closer to purchase. Retargeting can help your brand remain top-of-mind with consumers even if they were at a point of “not quite ready to buy” when they initially engaged with your creative.
5. Use Opt-in Advertising: Advertisers are competing for human time and attention. Infillion’s TrueX engagement ads optimize consumer experience by reducing the number of ads a consumer sees in exchange for their undivided attention. Guaranteed.

The consumer journey is no longer a linear progression from awareness to purchase. In an era of information abundance, consumers are continuously assessing multiple brands and products. To succeed in this new paradigm, businesses must recognize this shift and adapt their strategies to remain pertinent during the extended consideration phase.

Infillion is built for the age of “constant consideration.” If you’re curious about how our product suite can help your brand, reach out and we’ll be in touch!

The media business is changing fast – and it might not seem obvious that a grocery store brand originally founded in 1939 would be seen as one of the industry’s biggest innovators. But that’s exactly what the Boise, ID-headquartered Albertsons is doing with its two-year-old Albertsons Media Collective. Albertsons, the parent company of regional grocery chains like Safeway, Shaw’s, and Vons in addition to its eponymous stores, has become one of the most-talked-about names in retail media – and with over 2,000 stores and 30 million weekly customers, it certainly brings scale to the table.

But how does a legacy retail company become a pioneer in a new sector of advertising? Through a commitment to values, high standards, and putting the customer first. At Advertising Week New York, Infillion CMO Laurel Rossi sat down for a fireside chat with Michelle Weiskittel, senior director of retail media network media, creative, and operations at Albertsons Media Collective to discuss just that.

“We’re a late mover in the retail media space,” Weiskittel explained, citing that Albertsons was not a digitally native retailer – and that she sees that as an advantage because it could build new digital systems and datasets rather than needing to adapt existing ones. “We really want to take advantage of that late move and build solutions that work for everyone. We can use our voice in that process and build something that takes advantage of where we are now in the digital ecosystem versus where we were.”

That ability to build agile, future-forward systems is key when one of the biggest challenges in the world of retail media networks (RMNs) is standardization. “We know RMNs are an important media vehicle in the space, but there are a lot of them, and in order to make that efficient for the buyers you have to think about standardization,” Weiskittel said. “If everyone’s measuring differently then…let’s have the conversation together and focus on standardization and transparency.”

On that note of transparency, Weiskittel emphasized that it’s a key value for Albertsons Media Collective in dealing both with their customers as well as the consumers who shop at their stores. After all, grocery stores are some of the most hyperlocal businesses out there, and shoppers want to know that their data is being respected. “Grocery is a localized experience in itself, so we have to pull all of that together and really think about the customer and what the customer is going to react to,” she said.

That deeply personal relationship that consumers have with their local grocery store also underpins Albertsons’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. “Food is the center of most people’s lives,” Weiskittel said. “Our shoppers are diverse. If we don’t carry that through in our strategies, then that’s a miss and we’re not relating back to our shoppers and our customers.” That extends to the internal culture at Albertsons Media Collective, where leadership hosts “listening sessions” with employees about events and issues both inside and outside the company, and where mentoring is a central part of the employee experience.

Michelle Weiskittel and Laurel Rossi were sharing the stage as part of Advertising Week’s “Future is Female” track, which celebrates trailblazing women within the advertising industry. That’s especially key for the retail sector. As Rossi underscored in their fireside chat, women are responsible for 80% of household purchases – and that rises to 93% for food purchases. Recognizing and centering this is what helps a nearly century-old brand like Albertsons continue to be a mover and shaker as the industry evolves both in terms of tech innovation and on a cultural inclusion front.

“When you’ve been in this industry so long, like us, you’re motivated by the change and the desire to push yourself forward,” Weiskittel said. “What keeps me going is that constant rate of change.”

Want to learn more about being at the forefront of advertising, retail, and shopping trends? Follow Infillion on LinkedIn for our latest research and insights.

In a recent panel discussion at the Infillion Garden in Cannes, Laurel Rossi sat down with Kristi Argyilan, SVP of Retail Media at Albertsons, to discuss the transformative power of retail media networks. The conversation delved into standardization, data privacy, and the industry’s future. While summarizing the entire discussion won’t do justice to the depth of insights shared, here are the key takeaways on the evolving landscape of retail media networks.

Background and Vision: Kristi Argyilan began by sharing her journey, emphasizing her passion for creating engaging advertising and delivering it to the right audience at the right time. “I’ve always been looking for a better way from a media perspective because you see all this really rich content, but getting it in front of the right person at the right time seems to be somewhat elusive.” She expressed her quest for a “win-win-win” scenario, where brands, retailers, and customers all benefit from targeted and relevant messaging, saying “most importantly, that the customer wins, that they’re seeing the content and the messaging that they’re interested in.” Argyilan’s expertise in the creative agency and media spaces eventually led her to Target’s Roundel, where she recognized the immense value of retail media networks in providing customers with the information and engagement they desire.

Empowering Women in the Industry: Laurel Rossi took a moment to address the role of women in the industry and sought Argyilan’s perspective. Argyilan acknowledged the changing expectations of leadership styles and highlighted the natural inclination of women to bring everyone along and foster collaboration. She shared valuable advice with women in the industry, encouraging them to trust their knowledge and embrace vulnerability as a strength. “First off, trust what you know. So many times we’re quiet for multiple years…because we’re not quite sure we got it right. And so we listen and we’re like, they just said what I could have said 15 minutes ago. And then the other piece is trust that being vulnerable in the workplace is actually a strength, it’s a superpower and it’s the way that people really buy into you as a leader.” According to Argyilan, vulnerability is essential for building trust and connecting with the younger generation entering the workforce.

Understanding Retail Media Networks: The discussion then shifted to the definition and differentiation of retail media networks from traditional shopper marketing. Argyilan explained that shopper marketing originated from in-store circulars, signage, and point-of-purchase displays. However, as shoppers became more digital and loyalty programs generated valuable data, retailers recognized the potential to evolve. “It suddenly became apparent with our websites and our apps that we were starting to sit on the makings of a media company.” 

Hyper-Relevance and Consumer Respect: Argyilan highlighted the unique advantage of retail media networks, providing hyper-relevant data on consumers’ behaviors and preferences, both online and offline. But she also stressed the importance of respecting consumers’ time, attention, and privacy while delivering personalized advertising. She stated, “If we promise hyper-relevance and respect to the consumer, we can build stronger relationships.” This approach fosters trust in the industry and strengthens customer connections.

The Power of Local and Customization: Albertsons is an example of the value of being a local-centric retail media network. The industry gains immense potential by customizing marketing efforts to meet the needs of specific communities and integrating online and offline channels. Argyilan explained, “The idea of being able to take the media and sales data and bridge that gap… that is where we are going.” Bridging this gap opens up new opportunities for retailers and advertisers alike.

The Landscape and Standardization: With the emergence of various retail media networks, the topic of standardization became crucial. Argyilan acknowledged the complexity faced by advertisers in dealing with different platforms and emphasized the need for standardization across networks, noting, “We’re hearing loud and clear from our clients that it is too complicated to have to figure out how each of us does our thing… they’re hiring people to try to normalize us and they shouldn’t have to do that.” By streamlining processes and metrics, retail media networks can offer advertisers consistent and comparable results. Collaboration and removing friction from the engagement process are key to fostering stronger partnerships between retailers and advertisers. She stated, “We have to get our act together. We need to standardize the industry, align different networks, and make it easier for advertisers to compare results and measure effectiveness.” Retail media networks can gain greater trust and investment from brands by simplifying the engagement process.

Challenges and Opportunities: The panel concluded with a discussion on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for retail media networks. Argyilan expressed the importance of continuous innovation and balancing the enhancement of the base business with an aggressive innovation agenda. Efforts are underway to leverage first-party data, build targeted audiences, and integrate with programmatic platforms for seamless ad placement. Collaboration among retail media networks and the industry as a whole is seen as crucial to achieving widespread progress and making the market more accessible and transparent. 

The panel discussion at the Infillion Garden at Cannes provided valuable insights into the world of retail media networks and the need for standardization. Kristi Argyilan’s journey, coupled with her vision for creating win-win-win scenarios, emphasized the potential of retail media networks to revolutionize advertising and customer engagement. As the industry evolves, collaboration, innovation, and standardization will pave the way for a future where retailers, brands, and customers can all reap the rewards of personalized and effective marketing strategies.