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10 minutes of expert insights every weekday. Your morning ritual for staying ahead in retail media.
5 Marketing Lessons For RMNs From The World of Venture Capital
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[00:00:00] Kiri Masters: back when I ran my Amazon agency, we had a handful of brand clients who absolutely loved our work, glowing feedback, strong results, long-term partnerships. But When we asked if they'd share a testimonial, the [00:00:15] answer was always the same.
[00:00:16] We don't want to tip off our competitors about our secret sauce. The irony is that these same brands would ask about our category experience during the agency [00:00:30] selection process. They wanted proof that we knew their space, but they also didn't want us working with competitors. Everyone wanted the benefits of transparency.
[00:00:41] Without contributing to it. And I thought about this [00:00:45] paradox a lot while listening to a recent episode of the A 16 Z Podcast, that is the podcast of the venture capital firm, Andreesen Horowitz, where Mark Andreesen, Ben Horowitz, and their longtime [00:01:00] communications chief, margaret, we markers discussed how they built a 16 Z into a venture capital powerhouse, and their strategy was simple.
[00:01:11] Break the industry's code of silence. [00:01:15] And it got me thinking about what's holding the retail media industry back. Let's jump in.
[00:01:21]
[00:01:23] Kiri Masters: I'm gonna share my top highlights from the conversation and some thoughts on how retail media networks can actually stand out [00:01:30] and escape the doom loop by being more authentic in their marketing approach. So highlight number one, redefine who your customer actually is.
[00:01:41] When a 16 Z launched 15 years ago, [00:01:45] venture capital operated on a clear hierarchy. VCs served their limited partners. Which are the institutions or the people that gave them money to invest and entrepreneurs were the supply. They were not the [00:02:00] customers, but a 16 realized that entrepreneurs were the actual customer, and so they aimed all of their communications at the entrepreneurs, not the LPs, which was very unusual by aligning with [00:02:15] entrepreneurs,
[00:02:15] a 16 Z was able to get better, deal flow, better terms, and here's the kicker. In doing all of that, they would ultimately produce. More value for the LPs. So here's the retail media [00:02:30] version. Retailers have always sold to consumers. That is the marketing motion that they know. B2C brands sold to retailer.
[00:02:42] Retailers were the buyer, not the seller. [00:02:45] Retail media, of course, flips all that, and suddenly brands are the customer. Retailers need to court them to articulate A USP to build relationships and to run a B2B sales and [00:03:00] marketing motion. Of course, they typically have no muscle memory for this.
[00:03:04] They've never had to market themselves to businesses ~the entire discipline is foreign, and that explains.~
[00:03:07] ~They've never had to market themselves to businesses.~
[00:03:07] So at a high level, understanding who their customer actually is, is a foreign concept. [00:03:15] Highlight number two, create content that serves the new customer. With this deep understanding of their actual customer, a 16 Z developed a content marketing machine that produced content about how [00:03:30] to build companies, things like hiring, fundraising, go to market strategy.
[00:03:36] Board management, and this is content that served the founders' needs. Not a 16 Z's [00:03:45] ego. They became a resource, not just a capital source. So here's the retail media version. I find that much of retail media network marketing focuses on some combination [00:04:00] of the same three USPS number one.
[00:04:04] The size of their audience and why it can't be reached anywhere else. Number two, some offsite media partnerships, they have inked, and number three, why their measurement approach is [00:04:15] superior, yawn. What if retail media networks focus on content that actually helped advertisers win category insights? What is working right now?
[00:04:28] What is the real [00:04:30] nitty gritty of measurement? Not just hand waving. Retailers know that a marketplace model can dramatically boost product assortment, [00:04:45] shopper engagement, and total revenue. But to get the most out of your marketplace, you need an ad tech solution that can really engage sellers. Miracle Ads is powering the future of retail media for leading [00:05:00] retailers to activate both three P Sellers and one P brands.
[00:05:04] Learn more@miracle.com. That's M-I-R-A-K l.com.
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[00:05:12] Kiri Masters: Highlight number three, build direct [00:05:15] channels to the new customer. Traditional VCs wanted press coverage exactly once at IPO time to take credit for the win. And have no risk of association with failure. A [00:05:30] 16 Z did it backwards. They marketed aggressively with nothing in hand. They built a brand before they had the track record to justify it.
[00:05:39] The incumbents thought it was tacky. Then they started losing deals to [00:05:45] it. But here's the thing. While A 16 Z played a masterful PR game, they didn't just rely on traditional tech press to reach founders. They also built their own media properties, podcast newsletters, [00:06:00] events, blogs. These media properties became a real destination.
[00:06:04] In their own right. And it's exactly why you're listening to this episode right now. So here is the RMN application as someone with one foot in the [00:06:15] traditional press game as a contributor to publications like the Drum Walk and Forbes. I also have one foot dangling off to the side as a complete maverick, ~but this.~
[00:06:26] ~But this Juul experience help. ~But this Juul experience helps me to see firsthand [00:06:30] many retail media networks playing a very safe and buttoned up PR playbook via the trade press and sponsored editorial content. They only talk about.
[00:06:41] Who is building direct channels to brand [00:06:45] marketers who's running their own blogs, podcasts, and engaging social media content. You might be able to name a few, but the knockout round question is how many are actually any good actually [00:07:00] shareable content rather than hyper glossy PR sound bites.
[00:07:05] I'll wait. Highlight number four, bundling. This strategy came from an unusual source, a Hollywood talent [00:07:15] agency called C-A-A-C-A-A, reshaped the entertainment industry power structure by packaging talent, packaging writers, plus directors, plus actors, and negotiating [00:07:30] directly with studios which gave its clients leverage and changed how talent was represented.
[00:07:36] This model from an entirely different industry informed a 16 Z's vision for venture capital, not just as [00:07:45] providers of capital, but as talent agents. For founders, they offered up their network services access, not just money. So what's the RMN version of this? ~Are brands buying your adv?~
[00:07:57] ~So here's the RMN version. Our a big question, ~a big question, are brands buying [00:08:00] your ad inventory because they have to or because they want to? What's wrapped around it? Strategic partnership, creative support, insights that help brands beyond the campaign itself. Here's some interesting [00:08:15] examples. Best Buy built a creative studio.
[00:08:18] Kroger Precision Marketing is now sharing a weekly briefing based on customized insights from a brand's own 84 51 instance. Now, I [00:08:30] don't have the inside track on whether those solutions. Were genuine concerns for Best Buy or Kroger's advertisers, but that's the question I'd start with. What bundle able services and solutions do your brand advertisers [00:08:45] truly need, and what is holding them back from further investment with you?
[00:08:49] I have a couple more highlights from this episode and takeaways that I'm sharing in the blog or newsletter version of this episode, because this episode's already getting a little long in the tooth, so I'm not [00:09:00] gonna use off any more of your time.
[00:09:01] But if you want to dive in deeper, definitely check out the show notes of this episode for the full length blog post. And I'll just wrap up here. A lot of retail media networks still operate like old school [00:09:15] VCs. They issue interchangeable press releases. They show up at industry conferences with the same slide decks.
[00:09:23] They wait for advertisers to come to them because, well, they have the inventory. A few are figuring out that retail [00:09:30] media is a B2B media business, not just a retailer side hustle, and those efforts signal something that we take this seriously enough to invest in earning your attention.
[00:09:43] My old clients hoarded their [00:09:45] secrets, but expected the category to grow. A 16 Z gave their secrets away and reshaped venture capital retail media networks get to choose which playbook to run.
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