Australian-based Mexican fast-food chain, Mad Mex, is claiming a new benchmark for retail footfall communications, following a successful retail media partnership with Vistar Media and Hearts & Science that triggered 9% sales uplift in stores where ads were on display.

The campaign, positioned as ANZ-first, harnessed near real-time store data to optimise results, using digital out-of-home (DOOH) technology. To do this, Mad Mex's daily sales data and monthly store performance were used to activate OOH media, driving consumers in-store.

The campaign reached 2.9 million Australians and resulted in a 9% overall sales uplift in stores where the proximity programmatic OOH was activated. The campaign also saw a transaction uplift of 7% and a $21 CMP.

For Mad Mex, the campaign needed to activate with immediacy and through sales data optimisation, be as close to real-time as possible, supporting any stores in need of a sales boost. With Mad Mex only having <16% annual share of voice within the Mexican category, and 0.7% vs direct QSR competitors, minimising media wastage was also critical.

In all, more than 1000 indoor and outdoor digital screens were activated across retail malls, grocery stores, street furniture and urban panels nationwide. To reach consumers when they were in close proximity to Mad Mex restaurants, the campaign utilised POI targeting within 1km of select restaurants to inform contextually relevant media placement. Specifically, the creative message deployed at each panel was informed by the store’s monthly performance data, and whether taste, health or value would be the most influential driver.

"Sales performance increases have been so well-received, that we are in the process of refining this partnership & strategy further," Mad Mex General Manager of Marketing, Nick Cook, said. "We’re working to increase the complexity of sales data used significantly, to not only factor overall store sales but product sales too, increasing store footfall and product sales along the way. We are very excited to see how this solution will evolve and how this use of tech delivers for Mad Mex in the future."

The campaign's success in addressing footfall challenges within 24 hours has been hailed as a game-changer, leading to results previously unachievable through traditional methods.

"This tech solution enabled Mad Mex to have a significantly longer retail media presence as sites were activated programmatically only when required, ensuring the limited media budget wasn’t chewed through, minimising wastage and maximising effectiveness," Vistar Media Managing Director APAC, Ben Baker, said.

Head of Client Service Sydney at Hearts & Science, Gail Halbert, said the campaign successfully addressed footfall challenges within 24 hours.

"This cut down sales-to-media-activation lag time, leading to phenomenal results which were previously unachievable through traditional channels," she said.