Marketers looking to reach consumers as they make decisions about what to buy while they’re in a store are being offered a chance to buy advertising on the new digital screens replacing windows on freezer and refrigerator cases in Kroger supermarkets in what is being called the first in-store upfront.
Cooler Screens, which earlier this year added Kroger to the roster of stores it works with, said it is accepting applications to reserve inventory for the fourth quarter of 2023 and quarterly through 2024. The applications will be evaluated in July.
The move comes as retail media networks attract more ad dollars. Kroger works with advertisers to help determine the impact of their ad campaigns on in-store sales. At the same time, digital media competing with TV are looking at the upfront model as a way to attract more ad dollars.
Cooler Screens said it is looking for campaign proposals that create a meaningful impact on the customer experience and performance results leveraging consumer insight data and technology capabilities. Cooler Screens wants to see creative and innovative use of the 4K, life-sized digital screens that support video to create an engaging experience for shoppers.
Cooler Screens is inviting brands and agencies to webinars on how to use the platform to maximize performance at webinars on June 20.
In addition to Kroger, Cooler Screens displays are in Walgreens pharmacies and Giant Eagle and Chevron convenience stores and Western Union offices. The company’s screens reach 90 million shoppers per month and it expects its reach to grow to more than 200 million by the first quarter of 2024.
