“Everything is shoppable,” said Christi Geary, executive vice president and head of agency at Advantage Marketing Partners (AMP), during a session at Advertising Week New York. “It’s no longer negotiable. It’s no longer a question of, should I pay attention here or there? You should pay attention everywhere, and you should do it all at a time, all at once.”

Brands need to create seamless experiences across media, retail, and social platforms so every interaction builds trust and sales. Here’s how industry leaders are doing it.

Connecting every touchpoint

Bayer takes a unified approach to marketing, viewing every campaign as an opportunity to unite teams and tactics.

“Planning an omnichannel event is multi-faceted,” said Jessica Grasso, senior manager of omnichannel marketing at Bayer. “It’s complex, but one of the ways we were effectively able to do this was through a recent launch of a January Health campaign.”

The campaign, which Grasso called “the biggest tentpole event that we’ve ever had in the history of the organization,” connected mass media, retail media, influencers, and in-store activation into one coordinated promotion around New Year’s wellness resolutions.

Ferrero took a similar integrated approach when revitalizing the Keebler brand.

“We recognized that the brand needed some, let’s say, bringing back to the present type of activity,” said Marie-Jeanne Matei, vice president, general manager ecommerce and omnichannel shopper experience at Ferrero USA.

• The result was Open for Magic, a 360-degree campaign across national TV, retail media, and in-store activation, inviting parents and kids to scan cookies and unlock interactive experiences.
• “It really drives brand consideration with the new parents in this generation,” she said. “It worked really well, because beyond just getting an incentive, it built loyalty and consideration with new consumers.”

Authenticity as a competitive advantage

“I know we talk about authenticity all the time,” said Chanon Cook, chief research officer at YPulse. “But there it is. And that imperative is increasing just when you thought it couldn’t increase anymore.”

Authenticity is crucial to younger consumers, with 82% of Gen Zers saying it’s important for a brand to be true to themselves, according to YPulse data.

• For Bayer, this means moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach with Own Your Era, a new women’s health campaign at Walgreens and CVS.
• “Women’s health is oftentimes generalized and lacks authenticity,” said Grasso. “And so we really leaned into the opportunity to drive awareness and build trust across the breadth of our portfolio through tailored, bundled solutions that are meeting women during different life stages.”

The power of partnership

Successful campaigns rely on teamwork.

“Stop working in silos,” Grasso said. “Embrace collaboration.”

• At Bayer, this means “identifying common goals across customers and brands, finding synergies nationally and down to retail, and developing the plan together.”
• This resulted in “hitting double-digit results in every program we do,” said Grasso.

And that collaboration should extend beyond internal teams.

“Think about how you get closer to your retail partners,” said Matei. “Have programs that are impactful and connect back with their agenda… that’s where the biggest unlock is.”

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