Ad Tech Insights

Home Depot Expands Retail Media With Orange Access

The story: Home Depot is ramping up its retail media network with the introduction of a self-service ad platform called Orange Access. This new tool enables both large and small suppliers to plan, launch, and optimize ad campaigns across Home Depot’s rebranded Orange Apron Media. During a panel at Advertising Week New York, Melanie Babcock, VP of Orange Apron Media and monetization, emphasized the platform’s accessibility for all suppliers -- from major brands like Kohler and Samsung to smaller businesses, the “Melanie’s Plumbing and Supply” companies of the world. 

“We have thousands of small suppliers…and they don’t know anything about how to buy an ad, so we have to help them succeed inside of Home Depot,” Babcock explained. She further underscored Home Depot’s commitment to supporting advertisers of all sizes, “from the big guys all the way down to the small.” 

To achieve this, Orange Apron Media has focused on scale, service, and experience, bringing in ad tech partners like Kevel, Vantage, and Pentaleap. Kevel’s API-based technology and Pentaleap’s ad server solutions are crucial for integrating various advertising channels, both on- and off-site. Vantage CEO Aran Hamilton noted that before their partnership, “There were about eight different pieces of technology that were required in order to run an ad,” and “ads were taking a day to pull together.” 

As retail media continues to grow, Home Depot is evolving beyond its role as just a retailer to become a platform for advertisers. This shift reflects its commitment to serving businesses of all sizes while also unlocking new monetization opportunities for itself. 

‍The takeaway: As retail media networks continue to expand, advertisers of all sizes need tools that simplify ad creation and optimization. Partnering with ad tech experts who can integrate across multiple channels can help scale operations and deliver seamless ad experiences -- allowing businesses to focus on driving revenue and fostering innovation.

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Extra Industry Insights

September was packed with industry events. Let's recap:

• Despite drama surrounding Elon Musk’s ownership of X (formerly Twitter), around 80 senior marketers from major brands, including McDonald’s, FanDuel, and the NBA attended a client council meeting at X’s New York HQ. While many advertisers have yet to commit to ad spending, their presence signals continued curiosity about X’s potential. However, a recent Kantar survey revealed that 26% of advertisers plan to cut spending on X next year, with only 4% expressing confidence in its brand safety. 
• An onsite survey at Digiday Media’s Retail Media Strategies event in New York found that 35% of attendees are investing in five or more retail media networks, while 22% view retail media as a tool for new customer acquisition, and 18% use it for engagement. 
• Speakers at the Digiday event also discussed the importance of leveraging retail media offsite channels and integrating them with broader brand campaigns. 
• The IAB’s Connected Commerce Summit gathered industry leaders to talk standardization, in-store technology, and privacy laws. The highlight of the event was the IAB’s announcement of the industry’s first-ever in-store retail media standards, unveiled by Jeff Bustos, IAB’s Vice President of Measurement Addressability Data, who was also the event’s keynote speaker.  
• At the IAB conference, Christine Foster, Kroger Precision Marketing VP of Product Strategy and Media Operations, announced an updated measurement model influenced by IAB’s standards which is set to launch in Q5. “It’s a hybrid approach that will continue to deconstruct sales and layer in exposure data so that brands can really get a better picture of their full-funnel impact,” Foster said. 

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Kevel Catch-Up

PARTNERSHIPS: Kevel x Orange Apron Media

Kevel partners with the world’s largest home improvement retailer to in-house its retail media technology for Orange Apron Media. Leveraging Kevel’s API-powered Retail Media CloudTM solution, the Orange Apron Media team will lean further into their competitive edge as a specialty retailer and continue to innovate their retail media offerings and capabilities for advertisers. 

Check out our full press release here for more information on Kevel’s partnership, or read Orange Apron Media’s full press release about the launch of Orange Access.

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Keep Learning

WATCH → In a headline session from ATS London 2024, Index Exchange CEO Andrew Casale joins Ciarán O’Kane on stage to talk being an SSP in 2024, the current trends, drivers, challenges and opportunities. 

READ → Digiday’s “Microsoft looks set to shutter its retail media business” covers the July announcement of a ‘strategic collaboration’ with Criteo, which appears to be a precursor to a full migration and quiet shutdown of PromoteIQ. 

LISTEN → In this episode of The Speed of Culture, Matt Britton sits down with Jill Pavlovich, Senior VP of Digital Shopping Experiences at Albertsons Companies to talk about the role of data in personalizing consumer interactions and so much more. (Listening time: 30:30). 

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