Hy-Vee is making big changes in its marketing organization, promoting Kathryn Mazza to senior vice president and CMO. In a nod to the hope that retail media will power the grocery chain’s growth, she will also become president of RedMedia, the company’s retail media network. She had been senior vice president of RedMedia.
Mazza joined the company a year ago from Dick’s Sporting Goods, where she also headed retail media. She replaces Hy-Vee president Donna Tweeten, who announced her retirement plans in October. (Tweeten had been in the CMO role and RedMedia president before being promoted to Hy-Vee president.)
“Kathryn has already demonstrated tremendous leadership in helping the market recognize the power of Hy-Vee’s brand,” said Jeremy Gosch, Hy-Vee’s chairman and CEO, in the announcement. “Kathryn is the right leader to help bring our retail media and marketing efforts together to create even more value for our customers and vendor partners.”
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Based in Iowa, Hy-Vee has 570 stores in nine Midwestern states, with annual sales of $13 billion.
Retail media networks have grown so quickly that eMarketer now predicts U.S. advertisers will spend $97.91 billion on them by 2028, up 89%from the $51.94 billion spent last year. The category is still dominated by Amazon, though other companies - especially Walmart, Target and Instacart -- are gaining fast.
Among supermarket retailers, the arms race to build these new networks is especially frantic: They offer CPG marketers the rare chance to reach consumers right at the shelf.
Grocery Doppio, a data and insights company, currently values the U.S. grocery sector’s cut of the retail media universe at about $8.5 billion. It also notes that the networks are reshaping how grocery retailers engage with consumers.
Grocery Doppio reports that 73% of grocery executives, including those at the C-level, prioritize media monetization, “fully recognizing its potential to enhance digital operations, increase sales volume, and deepen customer engagement. This focus on media monetization reflects a broader trend in which grocers want to leverage their vast customer data and in-store traffic for advertising revenue.”
Within the next 18 months, 70% of grocers plan to adopt in-store media solutions.