Timisoara, October 30, 2023 – by rbj – Profi, the Romanian retail chain with the largest expansion in the territory, launches Profi Retail Media, the largest such network in Romania. This is developed in partnership with Footprints AI, a Romanian technology company that develops and markets one of the most technologically advanced Omnichannel Retail Media solutions globally.
“Once again, our network is taking big steps in the direction of digitization and efficiency”, says Călin Costinaș, deputy general director of Profi. “With more than 4,000 displays and active radio installations in all our stores today, with their number set to double in the near future, Profi has an unparalleled promotion capacity in the territory, a capacity that we now also make available to brands from various fields, other than retail, who want to benefit from unprecedented coverage in Romania”
The retail media network launched by Profi is operated by Retail Media Hub (RMH), the local market leader in the integration of services offered by advertising networks of this type and promoter of innovative instore communication solutions. RMH handles media selling, working directly with brands and media agencies, and also oversees the execution of advertising campaigns.
Microsoft Romania supports this project of a unique scope in Romania through its cloud infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence, Microsoft Azure.
Retail media networks connect retailers’ consumer data with advertisers. Such networks use targeting based on retail purchasing behavior and make it possible to distribute the advertising message through the retailer’s own media channels to deliver personalized advertising in both stores and online channels.
“We are launching a special advertising project – the largest retail media network in Romania, developed with the most advanced omnichannel targeting technology and in partnership with the local leader for monetization. We give brands access to essential, but anonymized, data about consumer behavior in Profi stores, so that they can run their promotional campaigns much more effectively through our network. The more than 1.2 million Profi customers who shop daily in the most extensive network of stores in the country will also benefit. They will receive hyper-personalized offers that meet their expectations, needs and purchasing habits, beyond the products with the best offers that they already find on our shelves”, stated Cătălin Pavel, Digital & Data Director, Profi.
Footprints AI technology was selected by Profi for its ability to successfully launch such major projects in a record time of less than 3 months. In addition, proprietary Footprints AI technology enables an innovative approach to Retail Media advertising, which promises to generate five times more efficiency. The solution enables dynamic targeting based on the consumption behavior of Profi customers in brick-and-mortar stores, promising a constant improvement of the shopping experience.
Brands that will advertise in the Profi media retail network have access to the most effective way of targeting the audience both in stores and on digital channels. This translates into an estimated efficiency of 3-5 times higher than other advertising networks, new or classic, including Google and Meta, radio or TV.
“We enter into partnership with the most extensive network of stores in Romania and help launch in Romania a unique media retail network due to its dimensions and, implicitly, by streamlining the budgets that brands will allocate in their in-store and online activations . Our highly advanced technologies are used by Profi to maximize the monetization of behavioral data generated by in-store customers. This is achieved by converting anonymous traffic from Profi locations into media audiences with predictable purchasing behavior with the help of artificial intelligence, thus offering brands increased yield and at the same time total visibility on the sales results from the investments made in advertising”, says Dan Marc, founder and CEO, Footprints AI.
Typically, when using classic advertising tools, retailers monetize a maximum of 15% of the data they hold about customers. With the Footprints AI solution, the Profi media retail network provides access to the consumption behavior of all customers in an anonymized way and enables brands and media agencies to directly access the network to deliver effective advertising messages to these audiences.
