# S3 E16 T 71 - Britt - HyVee

S3 E16 T 71 - Britt - HyVee 

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[00:00:06] Tom Limongello: Hey, Todd. How's it going? 

[00:00:08] Todd: week, another recording. 

[00:00:10] Tom Limongello: It was a big week for me. I was out at eMarketer's, uh, Ad Buyer Strategy Summit. . We've got a lot of events coming up. I think what's interesting now is we're starting to hit some retailers that we've wanted to have on the, on the podcast for a while. 

[00:00:23] Tom Limongello: Today, we're gonna be talking to Brit Polihronis from, Hy-Vee, and their retail media networks called Red Media. They're one that has a really interesting setup. They are strategically placed in the northern Midwest, and , we'll see from Brit sort of the states that they cover, but they're based in Des Moines, Iowa. 

[00:00:41] Tom Limongello: And the big question when I first visited out in, I think it was 2019, we were pitching them, and I was at Quotient. Um, the big question is, like, how, how do they get people to work in Des Moines? And they actually had this really cool HQ that they set up. They made it look like New York City, and they're, you know, trying to [00:01:00] attract, like, agency-type talent. 

[00:01:02] Tom Limongello: And, you know, now when we have this discussion, it seems like they are, , walking the walk, talking the talk. They have a huge screen network. They are really starting to look like somebody who, you know, knows how to do media. 

[00:01:14] Todd: Um, I think, and, and not just starting, they do, I think that's sort of the, the point is it's not a story where you see where they're going, it's where they're at today, which is... given my background, right, having been a CRO at a large publisher, online publisher in the day, uh, the pitch that Brit talks about is... 

[00:01:36] Todd: could be any pitch you'd hear from any large, meaningful publisher. And a large regional chain is, uh, the equivalent of a large publisher. Like, they'd be... They're decent sized and, you know, she talks about it. Look, if you wanna reach that regional audience, she's one of the best ways to do it, and that'd be the same pitch if you were a regional newspaper chain in that same area. 

[00:01:59] Todd: And [00:02:00] I think we've been talking about waiting for retailers to look and sound like publishers. again, I say that- positively. 

[00:02:08] Tom Limongello: Yeah. 

[00:02:09] Todd: have done a great job selling online media for a number of years now. And when you hear the pitch from Brit, and now she comes from an agency background, so she knows what it takes to sell from the buy side. 

[00:02:21] Todd: Now she's switched sides. But when she talks about it, it's the pitch you'd expect out of any sophisticated publisher, you can see why they're being successful in, in how they're doing it, because they look and sound like a well-oiled publishing machine, which is what, you know, we assumed retailers needed to be. And so that's really cool to kind of see, which is, yes, we are seeing that sophistication start to emerge on the retailer side, and we expect it'll pay off in its growth. they're... So to, from the buy side, you're gonna be working with retailers who know what they're doing now in a meaningful [00:03:00] way. And then on top of it, again, going back to our conversations with Sarah Mahrzano, speaking of eMarketer, and her talk about the frustration about in-store is like chicken and the egg and are, and no one can do anything meaningful. And then you have Hy-Vee who's gone all in on in-store has hundreds of stores with thousands of screens. It's real, and they're doing a great job of building an in-store component to their RMN. again, not in a POC way, but in an all-in, like this is a standard offering from them, and that's really cool to see people do that and, and be a real practitioner. 

[00:03:36] Todd: So you're seeing sophistication really emerge, and I think that's what's gonna come out in, in our chat with Brit.  

[00:03:41] Tom Limongello: Welcome to the Middlemen podcast. I have learned that I have two go-to microphones, so now if you're watching video, I have headphones on. I feel very pro. Uh, and we are here with Brit from Hy-Vee. Brit, say hello and tell us, tell us your background a little bit. 

[00:03:56] Britt Polihronis: Hi, everybody. Um, I'm Britt Polihronis. I'm the [00:04:00] chief operating officer for Red Media, which is Hy-Vee's retail media network organization. So with Hy-Vee for the last two and a half years now. , Excited to be here. I, um, came to Hy-Vee... I was previously, um, with Dentsu, Merkle, uh, part of the New Stream Media team. So that's kind of when I officially joined a retail media network group. Um, really got to dive in, work on many different retailers, um, across the board. And prior to that, I worked for a shopper marketing agency for the better half of 10 years. 

[00:04:32] Britt Polihronis: So have a lot of different backgrounds, um, as I've worked into the role at Hy-Vee. I'm really excited now to officially, work on the retail media network and run that business. So it's been a really exciting two years here, at Red Media.  

[00:04:46] Todd: How did, to jump in, you talk about HyVee and building out the retail media network. What was the background. To launching one, thinking about it, was it inevitable? It's always interesting to understand the origin stories of 'how did HyVee come to the idea, like yeah we have to do this too.''.  

[00:04:46] Tom Limongello: Yeah, I mean, they-- Oh, go [00:05:00] [00:06:00] ahead. 

[00:06:18] Britt Polihronis: Yeah this happened prior to me joining the team but how great origin stories begin is really, there was an opportunity. HyVee really was in an amazing spot, Hyvee sits as the gateway to the Midwest. If you wanna have a national presence, you have to partner with Hy-Vee because we own that middle section of the country. Um, and that's something that's really important, the ability to target those kinds of consumers. They have a lot of buying power, and they really are loyal shoppers, and that is something that benefits brands as well as Hy-Vee 

[00:06:40] Todd: It's an interesting, uh, comment you just made about how you sell and position Hy-Vee RMN, right? You-- If you wanted to do national, we have markets that we're basically the player, right? Is, is sort of your pitch. 'Cause that was one of the things as I was talking with Tom. How do you position Hy-Vee. [00:07:00] in where scale matters in online advertising? How does that story play out? Is it a challenge like you saw, right, the, the beginnings of, of Rippl trying to build a coalition of, of different regional players? Does that pitch work? You find that's the compelling pitch? 

[00:07:15] Todd: Do you find that you get pushback in terms of scale and size? What's sort of the dynamic of being a regional player versus some of the national players that are out there?  

[00:07:25] Britt Polihronis: I think Hy-Vee, We try hard to hit above our weight. That's something that we've al-always, like, kinda clung to, to as, like, a point of differentiation. Even though we are regional, our ability to offer product, and ads that are different, like our collection, our channels are massive. 

[00:07:46] Britt Polihronis: We do everything from on-site to off-site, but then our in-store is really powerful to a lot of brands. No, we're never gonna have, like, the entire country. We're specialized in one area, but I think what we do is we take advantage of [00:08:00] the fact that we know our shoppers really well. We have data that supports that, and we bring them solutions every day. So I think our ability to really take that is our, is our differentiation in the industry, is that we are so focused. We have really good, um, partnerships across the board that help us scale. Um, and yeah, we are part of a multitude of different consortiums. We wanna hit that, um, whether it was Ripple, um, or, you know, even being part of Grocery TV, you know, and what they're able to bring to the table. 

[00:08:34] Britt Polihronis: W-we just continuously want that opportunity so that, again, we can meet our brands where they want us to be, but also meet our shoppers where they are too 

[00:08:42] Tom Limongello: So I think it would be good for the audience to understand I- Hy-Vee a little bit better. So I had a lot of fun. I came, I think, I don't know, it's like twenty nineteen or twenty. I got to see you had this, you know, your headquarters was sort of, uh, built up to look like New York City, and you had, you know, all this great stuff. 

[00:08:59] Tom Limongello: And you're a [00:09:00] big store. You have lots of screens because of the Grocery TV Network partnership, but it's a very large store. It's almost, warehouse size, even though it's mostly grocery and drug, right? So can you tell us a little bit more about the store and how it all works? 

[00:09:13] Britt Polihronis: Hy-Vee, for those not familiar, we are within the Midwest. We have about three hundred and thirty-two stores across nine states. So that's Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri South Dakota Um, we're now in Indiana with our partnership Stracks. So we are kind of that, that group. Every store is a little bit different. 

[00:09:31] Britt Polihronis: We have probably, Tom, what you went into more of our flagship stores, our newer ones, um, perhaps maybe Grimes, um, where you kind of see that atmosphere. We have other stores that are smaller, that are more neighborhood chain so it kinda depends on the Hy-Vee you into. But what we really focus on is fresh. 

[00:09:49] Britt Polihronis: So fresh is really important to us, making we have the best in fresh, is what we like to call it. And then, yes, we do have Market Grille it was [00:10:00] inspired by Eataly in, in, Vegas, and it was something that was really important to bring, again, to our shoppers and make sure that want that. Um, but our reputation is really around customer service  

[00:10:11] Britt Polihronis: And then, yes, we have health and wellness as a huge focus of ours. We have a pharmacy in a majority our stores, and that's really important to this community in some of the regions, we are the only pharmacy chain within a hundred miles radius. 

[00:10:26] Britt Polihronis: So it's really important that we give that to our shoppers and something that we find, really unique about our positioning as well. And then we have a huge health market focus. We believe food is medicine, and it's helping, helping consumers, and that's our number one goal. 

[00:10:41] Britt Polihronis: you can see all of these different unique retail environments every day, so it's something that, um, we pride ourselves in. But, um, it, it is a large store with lots of options, and that's-  

[00:10:52] Tom Limongello: Well, yeah, what's interesting to me is that if you look at the rest of, say, the club channel, which you're not a club, but you're, you have stores that are, are those, that [00:11:00] size, I think, um, they're-- they haven't really done a lot with screens. And so the fact that you went in and you have ten thousand plus screens with Grocery TV,  

[00:11:08] Todd: 10,000  

[00:11:09] Todd: screens?  

[00:11:09] Tom Limongello: did... 

[00:11:10] Todd: Holy  

[00:11:10] Tom Limongello: Yeah. So, like, how did you get there? How did you sell that into the organization? And what, what are the benefits of having those screens, like? 

[00:11:19] Britt Polihronis: So we went big with in-store. We really saw that as being our key differentiation within the marketplaces. And I mean, that started over three ago. I feel like? 

[00:11:29] Britt Polihronis: now more and more retailers are coming on board with the screens. The technology is changing, ability to really focus on the consumer changes. We can target them. We can, you know, place different content on the screen with our, uh, GTV relationship. It really upped our game in terms of what we could do within the screen environment. 

[00:11:48] Britt Polihronis: So, um, there wasn't really a big, uh, pushback from leadership. I think they saw it as a great opportunity, and again, we wanna bring things to the table that are different in the [00:12:00] market and, and this was an opportunity for us, for sure.  

[00:12:02] Todd: screens across 300 stores is 30 screens per store. That's um, in terms of... 'Cause one of the things Tom and I have talked about in terms of, and it, it, it's come up with like talking with Sarah Marzano of Emarketer about this, which a little bit of a chicken and the egg problem with in-store. And people have struggled. Like you look at, they roll out a, a POC with five stores or two stores or what have you, and you're in 300 with 10,000. That's a huge footprint. What, uh, it, as a percentage, whatever you're comfortable sharing, as a percentage of the RMN offering, it like a third, half, a quarter? 

[00:12:41] Todd: Like is it a significant portion of your RMN business and it, it therefore becomes kind of like the, the foundational layer that in addition to the regional uniqueness, the in-store piece becomes another unique aspect of what you guys are doing?  

[00:12:56] Britt Polihronis: I think the biggest thing that we have learned through the last two years is [00:13:00] not to put screens as a standalone entity. It needs to be part of an omni-channel experience. It's, I know, a word everyone uses, but it truly is something that we have, we have synced up on and on every media plan we work through and in on every business, uh, that we're trying to drive forward. We take a look at what's going to matter most to the brands and then what's gonna matter to our customers. So we add in the in-store experience into every single plan we're working towards. So, um, we- We, we don't play audio within our screens, but then we have audio as a component, um, of our in-store experience. 

[00:13:41] Britt Polihronis: So we have seen a ton success when you layer those two things together. And then we also see success when we add in Meta or some of our other channels to drive that awareness. Then they see a screen in store that has a product in it. They may even hear it, and then they're, they're there to purchase it. 

[00:13:56] Britt Polihronis: So think that that... [00:14:00] I don't like just selling a screen by itself. I don't think that's the way to do it. I think it is part of your whole journey and your process with your shoppers. are lucky enough that we also get the benefit of being regional. We support a lot of local businesses, and there's a lot of important things that happen around the community. So we use about fifty percent of our screen coverage or inventory on those types of programs to be able to really highlight what's going on in the community, what Hy-Vee is able to do, and then we even work with local advertisers to be able to, to show their presence within our store. So outside of CPGs, we're also doing that. 

[00:14:38] Tom Limongello: So that part's interesting in terms of the, the content versus the ads that you have. Um, are you also doing... I know you used to have a, a program with the, uh, the Seasons brand m-magazine. Now you have all that online. Are you putting those, like, recipes up on those screens as well? 

[00:14:57] Britt Polihronis: We haven't quite hit the recipe game in screens. I think that [00:15:00] has to be really driven by content and experience. And I think as screen technology advances, placement of screens... You know, we started this three years ago, so we have screens on your checkout. Every single checkout aisle has a screen. have screens above aisles in certain places. 

[00:15:15] Britt Polihronis: We have screens behind our meat counters and our bakery and different points. And then within our pharmacies, we have screens as well. think recipes and, and opportunities for that really need to be a solution base that has the product right there that you can then build whatever meal that is. So I don't think-- we haven't quite done that yet, but I do think that's where things are headed, to be able to have the screens migrate more into the point of purchase, um,  

[00:15:40] Tom Limongello: Yeah, I mean, what's-- Yeah, go ahead. 

[00:15:48] Todd: you know, ti- it, it-- What metric are you using to price and, and package them? And then how do you look at, um, reporting, you know, attribution for that? I think those are huge [00:16:00] sixty-four, you know, thousand dollar questions that the industry is asking, is how should we be pricing, and how should we be tracking the campaigns? And, and  

[00:16:09] Britt Polihronis: Yeah.  

[00:16:09] Todd: way, your point of view is, like, you guys are already doing it, so you probably have a bias. Like, the way you-- However you're doing, you want the industry... But this is your chance to, I think, as other people are starting to build this out, if you wanna see the rest of the world adopt it, I think this is a good chance to kind of like, if it is working, where does it go from here as well?  

[00:16:23] Britt Polihronis: We are really lucky that we have the best analytics and data team within our group, so we are able to pull different metrics into what we're doing, um, and how we're able to measure that. So not a perfect science. I think anyone that says it is, is not telling you the truth. But what we look at is we look at the number of stores that we're putting screens in, we look at sales, and then we determine a holdout group, and then now we te- look at sales lift between the two. So it's not one-to-one necessarily, but it is a way, especially 'cause we're regional, I can't do holdout stores. I can't. I have to do, um, [00:17:00] version that allows me to, um... the synthesized version where it allows me to pull the data out and look at those numbers. So we are able to do that and to show that works. Um, pricing and how that works, we really focus on share of voice more than anything. So if you want... mean, yes, pe- we buy in CPM because that's how the world is right now. Maybe that will change eventually, but give you a share of voice that has meaningful impact. So thing with having so many screens is we have so much inventory, and smattering it across the board may not get the results that we're looking for. 

[00:17:38] Britt Polihronis: But honing in on a certain zone or a certain moment or certain times of day and being able to control that share of voice is where we see the biggest influence and where we see things really taking off. 

[00:17:49] Tom Limongello: So what's interesting about that is we've heard other retailers talk about how you may not need to have the product in the space where the ad is showing because they're [00:18:00] okay. They see that same shopper every week. They could potentially drive a sale the next time they're coming. So do you guys think in those terms as well? 

[00:18:08] Britt Polihronis: Points of rest are really important to us when we're thinking about the strategy of where the ads should be within the store. So kind of product is it, and does it need a moment to think? So you're standing there waiting on getting your meats for the week, and you see something like a barbecue sauce behind you. 

[00:18:27] Britt Polihronis: Like, yeah, barbecue sauce isn't right there by the meat counter, but that makes a lot of sense and I'm standing there for a minute. Or within the pharmacy area, you're standing in line. those kind of moments I think are really important to understand, and it has a lot to do with, with all journey as well.  

[00:18:45] Tom Limongello: Now, on the pharmacy side of things, I went to the Point of Care Marketing Association event a couple of-- I think it was like a month ago, and I was hearing about how they were this kind of oasis where it didn't have to be the TV creative. It could be these [00:19:00] longer form advertorial types of content where it's, you know, maybe twenty minutes long because people are waiting there getting shots or, you know, uh, waiting for their prescriptions. 

[00:19:10] Tom Limongello: Are you seeing those types of creative come into your world, or is it still more just sort of CPG? 

[00:19:16] Britt Polihronis: the fift- you know, we really believe in the 15 seconds within that environment. Every once in a while we'll let a 30 go, but we do try to focus on the 15s. Um, we see the best impact that way. Long form content is, is just difficult  

[00:19:31] Britt Polihronis: To manage seen that our environments. If you're in a doctor's office or you're sitting and waiting for a vaccine, more time to sit there. Um, could be something in the future.  

[00:19:44] Todd: mean, actually it's kind of a-- it-- I don't wanna let it slide, your point of how you figured out like formats. We want 15 seconds. How you program it, how you think about programming the, the, the day and the schedule for ads. Um, there's a lot of experience there, and I think that's something that is [00:20:00] missing across... 

[00:20:00] Todd: Uh, and, and I'm being sincere. There's a, a- More and more POCs, people have not figured out how to do things at scale at most retailers. your point of like, look, we know how to sell it, we know how to program it, we know what works in terms of formats, that puts you well ahead of the curve in terms of this. 

[00:20:19] Todd: And so I think, you know, the, the-- you're gonna get a lot of follow-ups of, I imagine from your peers in the industry of, "Oh my gosh, please help me. I don't know what I'm doing as we roll out these tests." What percentage of the campaigns involved in store now? Is it 100%? Is it 50%? What, what, what do you think in terms from an RMN standpoint your sell-through has been on in-store?  

[00:20:40] Britt Polihronis: Well if we say all of in-store, I would say we're close to about twenty-five percent of our campaigns have some kind of in-store component between in-store radio, the screens, we do sampling in store, we do POS in stores. I would say twenty-five to thirty percent 

[00:20:55] Britt Polihronis: um,  

[00:20:57] Todd: Oh, for  

[00:20:57] Britt Polihronis: screens I think are closer to ten to [00:21:00] fifteen percent, if I had to take a guess. Um, just 'cause again, the adoption is a little bit tricky. I believe we have it figured out, and I'm happy to share that with any brand that's looking for that information. But, you know, w- the big- biggest question is always gonna be: Were they gonna buy it anyway? 

[00:21:18] Britt Polihronis: Did they actually see the screen? You know, those are the never-ending questions that, We need more campaigns, we need more brands willing to invest and test and learn able to really continue to, understand those kinds of metrics too. just 'cause I say today, this is what we figured out and what we know, tomorrow could be a different day that we now  

[00:21:37] Todd: For  

[00:21:37] Britt Polihronis: have new data. 

[00:21:38] Britt Polihronis: So I think- Continuing to have brands willing to invest and test and work with us and partner us. Um, and then I think the measurement continues to just be that, you know, do you put beacons in? Do you you... know,  

[00:21:53] Tom Limongello: Right. 

[00:21:55] Britt Polihronis: You just have to figure out where the... the juice worth the squeeze on some of that? 

[00:21:59] Britt Polihronis: You know, at the [00:22:00] end of the day, we're a grocery store. We're selling products that consumers see every single week. What is your ultimate goal with screens and in-store? And I think it is to give that customer a great experience, um, be able to have the product they're looking for and, and drive that forward.  

[00:22:17] Tom Limongello: Yeah, we had Marlowe Nickel from Grocery TV on about a year ago, and he sort of educated us on how, you know, he went too far and agencies weren't asking for that. So I guess the, the follow-up question there is what are they asking for? You know, what are the agencies and the brands asking for? What are you learning from these, these big brands? 

[00:22:35] Tom Limongello: We've been talking about like, you know, edge cases of pharma and, you know, local brands. What are the big CPGs talking to you about? 

[00:22:42] Britt Polihronis: Yeah, they want iROAS. I think that's they want on every single campaign in every single way. Um, they wanna understand the audiences. So question I got asked this last week where I was-- it actually made me, like, pause and think is, "Well, are you able to target with the screens [00:23:00] to the consumer?" And I sat there and I thought, "Even if I could do that, I don't know if y- we want that either." 

[00:23:09] Britt Polihronis: So it was like, you know, I'm sure there is some technology that could figure it out, but that's a big leap, and it makes that kind of invasiveness within a store. I just... You have to be careful about? 

[00:23:20] Britt Polihronis: I just... I would rather stick to the geo, the product, to the shopper than pay change to the screen based on who, you know,  

[00:23:30] Tom Limongello: Yeah, I think...  

[00:23:31] Britt Polihronis: I just don't know if that's like-  

[00:23:32] Tom Limongello: Yeah. 

[00:23:34] Todd: we've, we've talked about re- as a vision for what in-store could be, right? Through beacons  

[00:23:41] Tom Limongello: Yeah. 

[00:23:43] Todd: I think there's some, know, potential privacy issues that, uh, could bring that up. But at the same point in time, if you think about it from a CPG standpoint, Tom, to your point, which I think this is a great topic to kind of continue to pull the string on, is it best as a top-of-funnel [00:24:00] type format, right? 

[00:24:01] Todd: Think of TV ads, video ads, what have you. And in those, uh, situations, the broader the reach, the better, right? You wanna get it in as many eyeballs as possible. It's sampling. It's, it's, you know, it-- Again, it's, it's how do I... It's not conversion marketing at that point, it's demand generation. And so you would think you can say yes, but what about your top of funnel? 

[00:24:25] Todd: And this is a great format, your point about sampling. Like, think about what else you do in store. You do sampling. product discovery. Like, people, think of this has a role that's really important, and you should have creatives and parts of your campaigns. You as an ex-agency person know  

[00:24:41] Britt Polihronis: Oh, Yeah. 

[00:24:42] Todd: let's, let's focus on those aspects of what you're trying to do, right? Pro-- Do you see a lot of interest from product launches then? Um, you know, and, and where... Or is it-- Or even, like, big holiday events. Like, you think about Super Bowl for soda and other... You would think, like, Pepsi and Coke would be [00:25:00] dying to buy out whatever you have during those big windows, too.  

[00:25:03] Britt Polihronis: Those are definitely big opportunities for us. Obviously, with FIFA and America two fifty coming into play, we're doing huge initiatives, and we have lots of brands that are gonna be showcasing their new products. They have things specific to, product launches. So another big thing that we do a lot of is what we call our multi-brand campaign. 

[00:25:23] Britt Polihronis: So one of our best producing campaigns that we've had is, um, a frozen food month, um, campaign, and we featured different products that are in the freezer section. And that was-- 'cause, like, I think it's January or February is the biggest frozen... Like, people buy a lot of frozen food during that  

[00:25:41] Todd: fascinating. I wouldn't have known  

[00:25:43] Britt Polihronis: fascinating. Um, so we did a big campaign. We saw a huge lift. Um, ROAS was twenty-five dollars across the campaign, so it was a pretty impressive  

[00:25:52] Tom Limongello: Is there like a psychology for that? Is it like frozen food's easier? Like you're not going out-- Like  

[00:25:58] Tom Limongello: I don't,  

[00:25:58] Tom Limongello: I don't even understand that [00:26:00] one.  

[00:26:00] Britt Polihronis: It's  

[00:26:00] Tom Limongello: Okay. All  

[00:26:00] Britt Polihronis: a month that's frozen food month 'cause it's  

[00:26:02] Tom Limongello: right. 

[00:26:03] Britt Polihronis: consumers are... There's a month for everything, you name  

[00:26:07] Tom Limongello: Yeah.  

[00:26:07] Tom Limongello: Well, that's true.  

[00:26:08] Britt Polihronis: yeah.  

[00:26:09] Britt Polihronis: And we also ran,  

[00:26:09] Tom Limongello: like,  

[00:26:12] Britt Polihronis: Um,  

[00:26:13] Tom Limongello: Yeah,  

[00:26:13] Britt Polihronis: different brands.  

[00:26:14] Tom Limongello: I've seen a ton of FIFA gear. I haven't seen a lot of collabs yet, but I, I have seen like, you know, just in CVS with my daughter, and there was M&M's like baker's collection. So it was like, you know, peanut plus cinnamon and then like cherry plus velvet cake or something. 

[00:26:29] Tom Limongello: And I'm like, this is the kind of stuff that, you know, I could just totally walk by even on an end cap and not notice unless there was some sort of sight, sound, and motion creative there. So I can imagine that anything on the line extensions, the product launches as Todd was saying, this is what it does best, right? 

[00:26:46] Tom Limongello: The other part of it is a lot of people when they get excited about in-store, they start to apply ad tech thinking, but this happened even just with on-site. So initially on-site, everybody's like, "Oh, can we do iROAS as an on-site?" And it's like, [00:27:00] you don't-- Like you're already super low funnel. 

[00:27:02] Tom Limongello: What's the point? So yeah, there's that too. 

[00:27:05] Britt Polihronis: Yeah,  

[00:27:07] Todd: I mean, it's,  

[00:27:07] Britt Polihronis: We-  

[00:27:08] Todd: other thing that we've talked a lot about is how RMNs will look and feel more and more like publishers over time. And you're, you're talking about the promotions and frozen food month, and as putting my old online publishing hat on, I'm like, oh my gosh, it's my editorial calendar. 

[00:27:26] Todd: Come back. And you talking like that, it's like... And even the way you're talking about audience, the way you're talking about different formats, the way you're talking about scheduling I, I feel like I'm talking to a publisher. And, and I mean that in  

[00:27:37] Tom Limongello: Yeah, drive periods are big 

[00:27:39] Britt Polihronis: Yeah.  

[00:27:52] Todd: channel. 

[00:27:53] Todd: It is really more-- We-- You should all be thinking about it as just as you would look at, at online publishers, you should be looking at retail [00:28:00] media the same way and not thinking of it as shopper marketing instead. Obviously, there's overlap and what have you, but I think that's sort of what's interesting is if, if I didn't know you were from an RMN, I would think, "Oh, this is just an editorial calendar conversation."  

[00:28:13] Britt Polihronis: Yeah, Yeah, and I think a big reason and a big 

[00:28:15] Britt Polihronis: shift for me coming into this role is actually the linkage between merchandising and retail media. And so truly have built an incredible partnership, and not just, not just lip service that I hear every other RMN talking about. I actually texted my head of merch twice today on just different programs that we're bringing to the table. We meet monthly. We have a big partnership. We go into all of our JBPs together. We build out calendars together, um, because we believe in like to build a proper success for our brands, which ultimately gives success to our, our shoppers, is you start with the lowest cost of goods so that we're able to deliver that to our customer. We layer on promotions and merchandising, and then you have red media to amplify [00:29:00] what's happening. So our goal is not to run any of those things without the other. And so that's how we come together. So very much like your old school content calendar in just a new, innovative way that's actually more school, but new school. 

[00:29:13] Britt Polihronis: We're kind of in the middle.  

[00:29:15] Tom Limongello: Well, speaking of old school, is there less of a reliance within the retail media programs on promotion? 'Cause I remember when we were starting this out, it was like, well, onsite's gonna be the always-on thing, and then the iROAS is gonna come from offsite, and we're gonna drive, you know, sort of, uh, attention to promotions that were happening on the, on the, on the drive period calendar. 

[00:29:36] Tom Limongello: Um, does the screen network actually remove some of the stress around promoting everything all the time? 

[00:29:42] Britt Polihronis: Yes, for sure. And I think we've become super, super clear on that we're gonna go and how we want it to appear, and that is again, the-- a big focus the merchandising and red media teams working together hand in hand. So [00:30:00] hundred percent.  

[00:30:01] Tom Limongello: So where, where do you see all of this going in the next couple of years for Red Media? 

[00:30:06] Britt Polihronis: I mean, obviously you can't have a discussion without AI. I think eventually the agentic shopping is gonna become a big play, how we maximize that, um, how we change up our websites to drive, uh, things within AI. So I do see that being the big focus for the next five years. But I do think, you know, it comes back me just, you know, keeping the scorecards the same to move a brand forward within a retail environment means you have to have all those people working together. 

[00:30:39] Britt Polihronis: So we do have to have merchandising, the Media? 

[00:30:42] Britt Polihronis: the website, e-commerce. Like, we all have to be driving towards the same goals. Um, and I think that is something that we, we do really well here. Um, so I do see that continuing. I think in-store experiences are also going to be a big driver. We do a big kids [00:31:00] club program every month. 

[00:31:01] Britt Polihronis: We get brands to help us sponsor those, um, to again, bring that kind of joy back to the shopping experience, and that's something a regional grocer can do.  

[00:31:10] Tom Limongello: Yeah. 

[00:31:12] Britt Polihronis: mean, I think we do, we do cookouts every weekend and, like, just we bring a whole different level to what we're doing at Hy-Vee, which does set us apart from some of those other retailers in the industry that they have a playbook. 

[00:31:26] Britt Polihronis: They hand you the playbook as a brand. You fit in their, their components. But we take the approach of you, you know your brand better than anybody. How can we put more of your brand in our shoppers' carts? Which then amplifies everything else for us. So wanna make sure that we are building custom programs, and so it does turn into an issue with scale sometimes, but I think That's where we look for partners that, you know, will work with us. That was a really long-winded  

[00:31:53] Britt Polihronis: answer.  

[00:31:54] Tom Limongello: okay, yeah. 

[00:31:54] Todd: talked a lot about in-store real life as it's just becomes a unique [00:32:00] aspect of retailers.  

[00:32:02] Britt Polihronis: Mm-hmm.  

[00:32:02] Todd: what's interesting, the stat that gets shared over and over again, is the number of people shopping in-store, despite the rise of e-commerce, has not declined.  

[00:32:12] Britt Polihronis: Right.  

[00:32:14] Todd: it is something that will be continued to be special. 

[00:32:16] Todd: People are very interested in real-life experiences, and  

[00:32:20] Britt Polihronis: Yep.  

[00:32:20] Todd: almost becoming more of a premium as a result of that.  

[00:32:24] Britt Polihronis: Mm-hmm.  

[00:32:24] Todd: And so to your point of, of being a core part of your business makes a ton of sense, and I think will be a, a key rallying point for retail media. Like it, it-- just this connection point, yes, you can do on-site, yes, you can do off-site, but this in-store piece is gonna be so incredibly valuable to brands you'll always be a part of the evolving media landscape.  

[00:32:47] Britt Polihronis: Yep.  

[00:32:48] Tom Limongello: well, I mean, what are you gonna do with all the extra time after ChatGPT has done all your work, so? 

[00:32:53] Britt Polihronis: They'll still need us  

[00:32:56] Tom Limongello: Great. Well, we're really excited having you on the podcast. Thank you, and [00:33:00] please keep us abreast of what's going on with Red Media.  

[00:33:03] Britt Polihronis: Amazing. Thank you so  

[00:33:04] Tom Limongello: All  

[00:33:04] Britt Polihronis: having me  

[00:33:05] ​