The MAP Partners Club has five initial members, including technology providers and ecommerce agencies.
The MAP Partners Club is launching with 5 companies. (Courtesy photo)
The retail media platform of Sam’s Club already provides access to advertising opportunities for brands seeking to connect with members. Now, it has a way for brands to tap a network of firms that can help to optimize campaigns, and ultimately boost performance.
The Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP) on Tuesday launched a partner program that will connect advertisers with a certified network of agencies and technology providers.
Called the MAP Partners Club, the program is launching with five initial firms, all of which are now live on the platform. These include the technology partners CommerceIQ, Pacvue and Skai, as well as managed service partners Flywheel and Stackline.
The program is designed to provide advertisers with a direct connection to vetted partners that can help them work through various parts of a campaign, including planning, buying, optimizing and scaling. In turn, the program effectively helps MAP expand its offerings via the partners, with additional capabilities such as bidding and budget optimization, as well as day-parting, advanced analytics and insights.
Alongside a curated experience that is tailored to members and closed-loop measurement that is powered by first-party data from club members, MAP leaders see strong partnerships as a key to enhance their offerings for advertisers.
Tapping the expertise of the platforms in the Partners Club that have a deep understanding of sponsored products ads is “critical to making sure that that our partners have the tools they need to drive the maximum success for their campaigns, which ultimately will result in the most personalized experience for the members based on them using the data and the tools to deliver those messages,” said Austin Leonard, the head of sales at the Sam’s Club Member Access Platform.
The Partners Club is part of an evolution for the MAP business as it seeks to continue developing a platform where it is “easy to buy, easy to sell and easy to operate,” Leonard said. Initially, advertising could only be purchased directly through the advertising business. MAP has since added an API, which allows the technology providers in the Partners Club to plug in. A self-service interface is providing additional optionality, including enabling agencies to tap into MAP directly to offer their services.
Through the program, the advertisers and agencies that work with MAP will be able to use the self-service interface to buy sponsored product ads with technologies that enhance campaigns from CommerceIQ, Pacvue and Skai.
Those who work with a full-service agency will be able to buy directly from Flywheel and Stackline.
The initial set of partners are recognizable to many advertisers, helping the program launch with a trusted set of firms that are known for driving results. But there’s also something unique at Sam’s Club, since it is a limited-SKU environment.
“With the power of our data, combined with the platforms and the expertise of these teams that have been running search for a while, we think that we can actually do something pretty special with these partners and our members," both in personalizing the experience and driving results, Leonard said.
Partners in the program will be identified with color-coded badges that are designed to make the offering easy to understand.
The MAP Partners Club plans to roll out additional partners in the near future. In turn, this network can help to expand the capabilities of the platform. In recent months, MAP rolled out negative keyword targeting to help with ad efficiency, and sponsored products attribution that provides additional visibility into how digital advertising influences purchases made in the store.
“We're just getting started,” Leonard said. “These partners that have leaned in with us early. They've been great partners to help guide our roadmap, and to help us quickly release features.”
Campbell Soup Company CEO Mark Clouse offered thoughts on messaging amid inflationary shifts in consumer behavior.
After months of elevated inflation and interest rate hikes that have the potential to cool demand, consumers are showing more signs of shifting behavior.
It’s showing up in retail sales data, but there’s also evidence in the observations of the brands responsible for grocery store staples.
The latest example came this week from Campbell Soup Company. CEO Mark Clouse told analysts that the consumer continues to be “resilient” despite continued price increases on food, but found that “consumers are beginning to feel that pressure” as time goes on.
This shows up in the categories they are buying. Overall, Clouse said Campbell sees a shift toward shelf-stable items, and away from more expensive prepared foods.
There is also change in when they make purchases. People are buying more at the beginning of the month. That’s because they are stretching paychecks as long as possible.
These shifts change how the company is communicating with consumers.
Clouse said the changes in behavior are an opportunity to “focus on value within our messaging without necessarily having to chase pricing all the way down.”
“No question that it's important that we protect affordability and that we make that relevant in the categories that we're in," Clouse said. "But I also think there's a lot of ways to frame value in different ways, right?”
A meal cooked with condensed soup may be cheaper than picking up a frozen item or ordering out. Consumers just need a reminder. Even within Campbell’s own portfolio, the company can elevate brands that have more value now, even if they may not always get the limelight.
The open question is whether the shift in behavior will begin to show up in the results of the companies that have raised prices. Campbell’s overall net sales grew 5% for the quarter ended April 30, while gross profit margins held steady around 30%. But the category-level results were more uneven. U.S. soup sales declined 11%, though the company said that was owed to comparisons with the quarter when supply chains reopened a year ago and expressed confidence that the category is seeing a longer-term resurgence as more people cook at home following the pandemic. Snacks, which includes Goldfish and Pepperidge Farm, were up 12% And while net sales increased overall, the amount of products people are buying is declining. Volumes were down 7%.
These are trends happening across the grocery store. Campbell is continuing to compete. It is leading with iconic brands, and a host of different ways to consume them. It is following that up with innovation that makes the products stand out. Then, it is driving home messaging that shows consumers how to fit the products into their lives, and even their tightening spending plans.
Campbell Soup is more than 150 years old, and has seen plenty of difficult economic environments. It is also a different business today, and will continue to evolve. At the end of the day, continued execution is what’s required.
“If it's good food, people are going to buy it, especially if it's a great value,” Clouse said.
