Sean Crawford, Managing Director of Threefold, appeared this week on Programmatic Pulse, a podcast from Sentient Talent, to discuss the evolution of retail media, his career highlights, working at SMG and more.
You can listen to the full interview wherever you get your podcasts, including on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Here are three takeaways from Sean’s insights during the podcast:
Retail media is not new, but it’s finally being taken seriously.
Sean Crawford: "When I started out in retail media, it wasn’t a hot topic. It was a subset, a niche. If you’re a marketer looking to ensure your marketing delivers a return, there’s a really tangible way to link that to a retailer—because you can connect it directly to a sale.
That’s meant, as we’ve gone through turbulent economic times, and with a pandemic thrown in, it’s helped people realize, ‘If I need to make a bigger impact with fewer resources, this is how I can do it, and I can prove to the powers that be and the rest of my business that it’s delivering.’
It’s measurable. It helps brands not only increase sales but also boost brand value and equity. Previously, people didn’t think retail media could help with brand equity; they saw it as purely transactional, a real end-of-the-funnel thing. But really, any media channel can be a retail media channel, as long as it connects with the shopper.
Retailers have a golden key—it’s first-party data. That’s hugely powerful for brands because it helps them genuinely understand who is engaging with their product and who is buying it. It’s booming, but it’s not new. People saying retail media is new are wrong. It’s been around for decades. The exciting part is that people now believe retail media is media. And I fully support that."
In just over a year, Threefold (SMG) has already consulted with major retailers and is preparing to launch its first US-based Retail Media Network partnership.
Sean Crawford: "We came out to the US about a year ago. Geographically, it’s much bigger than the UK and has so much opportunity. When we were acquired by Next15 a few years ago, one of the things they said was, ‘We want to take you international.’
We’re really excited because there are a number of areas where the US can help grow SMG, but equally, there are many things we can bring to the US because of the differences in the retail media market. The unique opportunity meant there wasn’t really a direct comparable business like ours in the US We thought, ‘OK, let’s go for it. Let’s put some boots on the ground.’ We’ve now built a team that includes some of our talent from the UK who have relocated, as well as new talent from the US market. It’s been great to bring those two cultures together and embrace each other’s differences.
Where we’re moving forward is, in the coming months, we’ll be announcing our first US retail partner. We’ll work with them over the next several years to accelerate their retail media capabilities. That’s been the goal from day one, and we’re really excited. We’re also going to focus on helping others through consultancy and advisory work, and we’re looking for other partners who are the right fit for us to help them on their retail media journey."
The culture at SMG has kept Sean at the company for more than a decade.
Sean Crawford: "You spend more time at work than with your family, friends and loved ones. You have to genuinely enjoy coming to work every day, whether it’s virtually or in an office. First and foremost, I genuinely love coming to work today. The reason is the people. If a company invests in its culture, its people and their development, they feel rewarded, looked after and part of building something for the greater good.
SMG focuses on people, and if you look at our leadership team, most of us have been here for a long tenure. The company has gone through a sale process, and that hasn’t changed. I think that shows how much the leadership is a cohesive team, with many different talents and experiences. We’re all signed up to the same vision, which makes it a brilliant place to work.
We were recently awarded three stars in the Best Companies survey, which is pretty tricky to get, and we’re really proud of that. No matter how long you’ve been here, no matter what level you’re at, it’s genuinely a great place to work.
Don’t take people for granted. Don’t take culture for granted. It’s something you have to continually invest in."
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.
Comentarios