Very Group overhaul to fuel expansion of retail media

Online shopping giant the Very Group, the company behind Very.co.uk and Littlewoods, has overhauled its retail media proposition, amid plans to become the “choice” retail media network for brands.

The company claims to be one of the UK and Ireland’s largest digital-only retailers, boasting 1.4 million daily site visits and 4.4 million active customers.

The launch of the new retail media , dubbed Very Media Group, will be supported by SMG, which has already worked with the online group for 12 years.

With global retail media spend forecast to reach $141.7bn (£115.8bn) in 2024, perhaps unsurprisingly most retailers are eyeing a slice of the action. In the UK alone, Tesco, Boots. Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Co-op, John Lewis, B&Q and Currys – to name just a few – have all launched their own networks.

Very Media Group’s operation will be led by its in-house team and backed by a dedicated SMG unit who will bring experience in campaign strategy, concept development, campaign execution, retail trading, marketing and data analysis, and delivering brand-centric omnichannel campaigns.

Since launching its current platform in November 2023, the Very Group has tapped into its rich customer dataset and creative capabilities to optimise its own brand marketing, driving material growth in brand attribution, sentiment and shopper intent.

Drawing on technology from SMG, Very Media Group aims to bring the power of the consumer insight which has fuelled its 2024 summer campaign, the ‘Haus of Flamingo’, to brand partners, helping them connect to the Very audience at scale.

And, the group claims, unlike many retail media networks which rely on loyalty data, Very Media Group’s combination of personal, shopping and financial data will offer a deeper knowledge about individual shopping behaviours.

With Criteo’s Commerce Media Platform also integrated into the proposition, the online shopping firm claims brands will be able to seamlessly access Very’s “digital shelf” with the knowledge that the group’s deep customer insights will allow them to serve the right content to the right customers.

The proposition will also integrate advertising, experiential, and influencer marketing. Very Media Group will offer brands the opportunity to collaborate with them on bespoke campaign concept development, combining data and creativity to launch campaigns targeting audiences online, including on social media platforms.

Powered by first-party data, over the next 12 months Very Media Group plans to ramp up its services, on the back of creative capabilities and advanced digital measurement. It aspires to unlock the power of its partners to deliver growth for brands and the Very Group alike.

In May, the company promoted chief marketing officer Jessica Myers to the expanded role of chief customer officer, 18 months after she had joined from Metro Bank.

At the time, the firm said her new role would bring together teams across the business in a new “customer-focused centre of excellence” and, as part of the reshuffle, she added data and analytics, as well as ecommerce to her brief, along with her existing responsibilities of brand, marketing, PR and creative operations.

Myers said: “We have amazing in-house retail media expertise, one of UK retail’s largest data assets, and an outstanding creative team. Now, we’re bringing them together alongside industry-leading partners to give brands even better access and connectivity to families in the UK and Ireland.

“And thanks to our technology partners, brands will have unprecedented levels of insight into their marketing and media activity. We’ve long known the power of data, and now through Very Media Group our brand partners can harness this to transform their media planning and strategy. This will be a significant step forward in retail media and a major opportunity for us and our partner brands.”

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