AI is exciting, but it's not a silver bullet (hear us out!)

In this edition, we explain why we're excited about AI but most continue to take a people-first approach. Plus, we're shedding light on retail media news from Lowe's Companies, Inc., Co-op Media Network and a new network from a regional grocer.

While it’s certainly a major part of the path forward, we must as an industry be careful to remember AI is just part of that path, not the entire path.

This week's retail media myth: AI is a silver bullet that will lead to instant success in retail media. 

We know, this might be controversial, but hear us out. We’ve heard so much about Artificial Intelligence in the last couple of years. Every time we travel to another industry event, it’s there, at the top of (and throughout) each agenda. Every time we open LinkedIn, there it is, in another crop of posts boasting about its seemingly limitless potential. And that’s for good reason, of course. AI has been incredibly disruptive, as it offers every industry opportunities to innovate and we’re only just starting to see how it will push retail media to new heights.

At Threefold we’re extremely excited about the possibilities that AI brings to the table, particularly in regard to the personalization it enables in the media space. 

AI, for instance, will enable media networks to better tailor campaign creative, including while a campaign is live, based on a variety of real-time factors. Brand advertisers can leverage AI through RMN data to enable customized copy and creative that speaks directly to consumers, answers their questions and addresses their needs, which will in time grow sales. 

AI can also introduce efficiencies and eliminate timely work in the planning and evaluation phases, allowing brands to more easily predict campaign performance, select the right channels and touchpoints and more quickly analyze and implement learnings from previous campaigns.

While it’s certainly a major part of the path forward, we must as an industry be careful to remember it’s just part of that path, not the entire path. 

At Threefold and the SMG agency network, people are at the core of everything we do and at the heart of every decision we make. Each retail media campaign must be creatively planned and tailored to objectives, and that can’t be achieved without a human touch. The creative teams behind Threefold-powered retail media campaigns have led to some of our biggest wins, the best returns for brands and exceptional experiences for consumers. AI is a tool that our people can use to make things better and more efficient, but it is not and will never be a total replacement for the experts we employ. Like anything, getting AI correct will come down to striking the right balance. 

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About Threefold

Founded in 2008, Threefold is the world's leading Retail Media Network (RMN) specialist, headquartered in both New York and London. As part of the SMG agency network, which employs nearly 400 retail media experts, Threefold's primary mission is to unlock incremental brand and supplier budgets, curate media campaigns that supercharge sales and elevate its retail partners into top-tier omnichannel media owners, spanning in-store, off-site and online.

Threefold's services include the leading Retail Media Operating System Plan-Apps, consultancy and a white-label in-house solution that has seen the agency build, run and operate over 10 Retail Media Networks to date. In the UK, Threefold runs and operates Walgreens' Boots Media Group, ASDA’s LS Eleven Media Services, Co-op Media Network, Morrisons Media Group and retail media for The Very Group.