The digiDirect Group, which includes consumer electronics retailer digiDirect, online bookstore Booktopia and technology retailer Mwave, has announced details of its new retail media network, digiConnect, as it seeks to create greater opportunities to develop more direct connections with customers and partners through a publisher-led strategy.
The new advertiser-friendly network sees access opened to its fast-growing suite of assets.
The proposition offers brands and advertisers access to a suite of premium assets across a range of channels, activating its vast inventory across its physical and digital stores, while transcending the customer fulfilment journey for its e-commerce orders.
DigiConnect unlocks access to a multi-category audience spanning technology, lifestyle, gifting and learning, providing brands with new ways to align with relevant moments in the customer journey.
The network proposition includes in-package advertising, allowing brands from different categories and industries to connect with customers through their delivery boxes, providing a premium in-home marketing solution through exclusive promotional material and product sampling.
“Retail media continues to see huge growth around the world but we have identified significant opportunities that create a more dynamic and relevant local proposition for brands and businesses to leverage to deliver on their business objectives. We have developed a genuinely distinctive and authentic network that centres around creating a three-way win; for partners, for us as the publisher, and most importantly, the customer,” Adam Freedman, head of brand, communications and loyalty, The digiDirect Group said.
“By taking a customer-first approach, we can provide a more intimate and personalised level of content that fosters a deeper connection and added value for the customer. This is complemented by our access to rich first-party data that enables us to connect partners with the right customers while also providing a platform to genuinely reach millions of Australians with high purchase intent,” Freedman added.
Activation of digiDirect’s screen network across its nationwide stores, point-of-sale, including digiDirect’s popular express Passport Photo service, will enable placements to support through-the-funnel brand and performance objectives.
Partners will also have the opportunity to integrate into customer journeys through bespoke content made available to customers post-purchase, including through checkout and e-mail, taking advantage of existing shopper intent and leveraging positioning of complementary products, services and experiences as value-adds for the customer.
There will also be ‘super-premium’ inventory offered with limited supply through select print and digital assets, including Booktopia’s annual gifting catalogue, due for release toward the end of the year.
“Our growing business portfolio has enabled us to unlock greater opportunities to further maximise our vast real estate and provide valuable opportunities to connect with a highly-coveted audience base, which reaches a strong cross-section of Australians of all ages and demographics on a national level united by one shared trait: their desire to spend,” Haig Kayserian, The digiDirect Group’s director of retail & logistics said.
“digiConnect is designed to be a first-class partner for brands and advertisers and a more effective, budget-friendly and full-funnel alternative to other increasingly expensive and cumbersome channels to reach and acquire customers from both a brand and performance perspective,” Kayserian added.
Brand experience agency, Source Partnerships, has been charged with managing retail media activity for digiConnect with non-endemic partners. Source will focus on like-minded lifestyle brands across a range of categories, including travel, home, consumer goods, apparel, FMCG, liquor, and financial services, among others.
Source Partnerships will support brands with full campaign planning and execution across the digiConnect network, ensuring each partnership is aligned to customer need-states and conversion opportunities.
Campaigns will be designed to integrate naturally across digiConnect’s retail experiences from in-package sampling to in-store screen content, post-purchase communication and high-impact digital and print placements.
“The digiConnect network presents an exciting opportunity to reach customers where they’re most focused: in discovery, in checkout, in delivery, and in-store. With its rich mix of verticals, retail formats, and access to powerful first-party data, The digiDirect Group gives non-endemic brands a new, highly effective way to connect with customers through contextually relevant moments and in a way that genuinely adds value,” Andy Mulrenan, founder, Source Partnerships said.
The digiDirect Group is already working closely with a group of partners across the retail media network, with remits continuing to expand as new inventory becomes available.
The company is also currently developing additional initiatives which will bolster the network further in the coming months ahead of the peak retail season, enabling brands to add deeper touchpoints to their integrated marketing campaigns during the key period.
