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Roku taps Kroger to sharpen targeted advertising

Kroger Precision Marketing to integrate with streaming TV company’s shopper data program

Russell Redman

June 8, 2020

3 Min Read
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Kroger Precision Marketing will join Roku as the launch partner to build first-to-market targeting and attribution tools for streaming TV.Roku

Streaming media provider Roku has enlisted The Kroger Co.’s Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) solution for a new shopper data program aimed at consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers.

San Jose, Calif.-based Roku said Monday that KPM will join the program as the launch partner to build first-to-market targeting and attribution tools for streaming TV.

Specifically, Roku’s shopper data program will provide Kroger sales information to help marketers make more precise and measurable media-buying decisions. Roku said marketers will be able to activate advertising across hundreds of ad-supported channels and link ad exposure directly to in-store and online sales.

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As of the 2020 first quarter, Roku totaled 39.8 million active streaming TV accounts, and the company streamed 13.2 billion hours during the quarter. Roku described itself as the No.1 U.S. streaming TV platform, by hours streamed according to Kantar, and the largest licensed TV operating system in North America.

Part of Kroger’s 84.51° data analytics arm, KPM brings to Roku data from 60 million households across nearly 2,800 Kroger Co. supermarkets. Cincinnati-based Kroger unveiled the KPM cross-channel media solution in October 2017 as a way to develop more relevant customer campaigns across its digital ecosystem. Powered by Kroger’s loyalty program, KPM offers CPG companies advertising tools to reach potential customers as well as track conversion to gauge success.

Related:Former Amazon sales exec Nancy Winé joins Kroger’s 84.51°

With the rising growth of streaming TV, Kroger said its KPM unit sought a leader in over-the-top (OTT) media service — where content is transmitted via the Internet rather than a cable TV provider — to bring accurate identity and viewing data based on a direct consumer relationship. Kroger, too, has positioned digital media as a pillar of its strategy to expand alternative revenue streams.

Kroger Precision Marketing is eager to help advertisers understand exactly how their TV investment impacts sales. TV streaming brings digital-like precision to the big screen,” according to Cara Pratt, vice president of commercial and product strategy for KPM. “We are excited for the opportunity to work with Roku because of its scale and direct consumer relationship.”

Roku noted that CPG marketers seek advanced data solutions to make TV advertising more relevant and performance-driven. For example, the company said, KPM can help marketers segment messages to high-volume category buyers, shoppers who occasionally make purchases in a category or those who buy in a complementary category. Through integration with Roku’s shopper data program, marketers will get access to Kroger data science for targeting and closed-loop attribution to measure campaign performance across the Roku platform, as well as tools from Roku to measure the efficacy of linear TV.

Related:Kroger gives CPG advertisers more sales visibility

“We believe that all TV ads will be targeted and measurable,” Alison Levin, vice president of ad sales and strategy at Roku, said in a statement. “Our new shopper data program will make it easier and more effective for CPG advertisers to shift spend to streaming and focus on value for every ad dollar spent.”

Last week, Kroger announced that its 84.51° analytics subsidiary has hired former Amazon executive Nancy Winé as vice president of advertising sales for KPM. At Amazon, Winé led sales for the e-tail giant’s CPG vertical. And in February, KPM launched a new sales attribution capability that enables CPG brands to view in-store and online sales results from their ad campaigns with Kroger.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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