Are Brands Optimizing to the Wrong Metrics with Off-Site Retail Media?

The Addiction to ROAS and “Cheap Reach” May Once Again Be Leading Brands Astray

Earlier this year, I predicted that 2024 would be the year off-site/streaming TV and in-store retail media.

These trends are converging at the same time, albeit at different stages of maturity. Off-site advertising is further along, with brands having both the ability and incentive to invest in the channel right now. Streaming TV is a logical extension of this trend.

And indeed, dollars are beginning to accelerate into off-site retail media advertising. According to EMARKETER, the US market will rise 64.1% to $11.04 billion. As a subset of that, retail media ad spend on CTV will surge 335.5% to $3.64 billion.

Recent data from Skai confirms that some of the strong shifts in 2024 ad budgets are in social and off-site advertising.

If budgets are now flowing into off-site retail media, why are so many brands complaining about it?