As manufacturers increase their investments in retail media networks, there is opportunity for brands to take a more strategic approach to how they fund their investments, leverage rich first-party data and evaluate the value of RMN programs, according to “Brands Speak Out: Harnessing the Power of Retail Media Networks,” an Advantage Unified Commerce report.
**Omnichannel retail strategy** is at the center of this shift, with manufacturers navigating how to align advertising spend, data access, and campaign outcomes across digital and in-store environments.
Based on survey responses from representatives of 20 brands, the report found:
- Nearly 70% of manufacturers are spending over 10% of their advertising and promotion budgets on RMNs — nearly one-third are spending more than 20%.
- The majority of respondents are sourcing RMN spends from shopper marketing budgets (50%), followed by brand advertising (22%) and to a lesser extent from e-commerce and trade budgets.
- Four in 10 manufacturers are investing more than 10% of their RMN budgets on innovation.
- While brands are placing greater strategic priority on RMNs, the majority (two-thirds) haven’t tried to negotiate RMN spending requirements with retailers.
- Among the top RMN challenges cited by consumer packaged goods brands are increased investment expectations, lack of viable reporting and measurement, and lack of access to data.
- Few brands are confident in their return on their RMN investment and few are leveraging retail data to the fullest.
