Why Scotts Miracle-Gro is pursuing more retail media from retailers like The Home Depot amid the crumbling cookie

The impact of Google's Chrome cookie conundrum on marketers has been significant, leading to a shift in their strategies. With the loss of third-party cookies, marketers are increasingly pursuing alternative channels such as retail media. Companies like Scotts Miracle-Gro are relying more on their retail partners to leverage first-party data for advertising, as this allows for closed-loop attribution and a better understanding of the customer journey.

Retail media plays a crucial role in Scotts Miracle-Gro's advertising strategy. It represents around 40% of the company's total enterprise media budget and is growing each year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has been an early adopter of retail media, partnering with The Home Depot during the testing phase of its retail media network before its official launch in 2020. The company focuses on conversion tactics like search and on-site retail media, and is also incorporating brand awareness tactics such as streaming ads.

At the InFronts event, The Home Depot announced a rebrand and new ad products, which caught the attention of advertisers looking for brand-building opportunities in the retail media space. This includes in-store retail media opportunities and off-site advertising, like streaming ads through a partnership with Univision's streaming service, as well as recently launched in-store signage. These offerings are part of The Home Depot's strategy to differentiate itself in the retail media market.

The Home Depot is positioning itself as a top contender in the retail media space by leveraging its unique audience data and off-site advertising capabilities. The company aims to attract more marketing dollars, as opposed to trade dollars, and is focusing on expanding its capabilities to reach customers at various stages of the funnel. The Home Depot is also exploring a clean room partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro to share data and insights, which would further strengthen its position in the retail media landscape.

According to eMarketer, retail media is expected to account for one-fifth of the world's digital ad spend this year, reaching over $140 billion. This growth indicates the increasing importance of retail media as a channel for both sales conversions and brand awareness, with networks like The Home Depot's positioning themselves to capture a significant share of ad dollars.