Global commerce marketing agency, The Mars Agency, has published the latest findings of its Retail Media Report Card, assessing the capabilities of eight leading networks in the grocery, pharmacy, liquor, and commerce sectors in Australia and New Zealand.

The report is designed to assist brands in evaluating their spending options across retail media networks, examining 62 key capabilities across five performance areas: targeting, measurement, media opportunities, innovation, and partnership.

"The state of retail media networks in Australia and New Zealand reflects a dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape, characterised by innovation, competition, and the quest for consumer engagement and loyalty,” said The Mars Agency Managing Director ANZ, Sally Tobin. “We’ve been helping our brand clients make sense of these increasing market complexities and identify the best investments for their media dollars. This Report Card is a tool we use to arm them with the intelligence they need to do just that.”

The Report Card is a public version of the more detailed research the agency shares with its clients. The aim is to encourage transparency and the development of industry standards for effective evaluation that can improve the collaborative process between retailers and brands, with spending on retail media advertising in Australia projected to hit A$1 billion by 2025.

EVP of Commerce Media at The Mars Agency, Ethan Goodman, said: “The Mars Agency is influencing and managing more than one billion dollars US in retail media globally, and this expansion of our Report Card is our commitment to another region experiencing immense growth.”

The Report Card will be updated quarterly to reflect the ongoing efforts of these networks to improve their capabilities and build stronger, more effective partnerships with brands.

The Mars Agency ANZ Commerce Media & Measurement Director, Dani Carlo, said: “We took learnings from our US team and worked closely with retailers here to develop this Report Card as a tool to help both brands and retailers.”

Earlier in 2022, The Mars Agency made its first entry into the ANZ market by acquiring Australian shopper and retail experience agency, XPO Brands. The agency its ANZ presence when it acquired New Zealand brand activation agency, The In Group, earlier this year.

The Retail Media Report Card for ANZ can be downloaded from the XPO Brands website.