The Chewy Retail Media Network: How Pet Brands Can Advertise on chewy.com with Damiano Ciarrocchi - Episode 314

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, Kiri Masters is joined by Damiano Ciarrocchi, head of Retail Strategy at Acadia. They discuss the Chewy Retail Media Network and how pet brands can advertise on Chewy.com. Acadia just launched an advertising management capability for the Chewy retail media network, adding this platform to the roster of retail media networks Acadia now supports.

Damiano highlights the uniqueness of Chewy as a retail media network, its hyper-specific focus on the pet category, and the potential for brand loyalty among pet owners. They also explore the advertising opportunities on Chewy, including conquesting, and the technical aspects of the platform, such as the current use of Promote IQ and the future launch of banner ads. Additionally, they touch on the importance of campaign tagging and the audience targeting capabilities on Chewy.

In today’s episode, Kiri and Damiano discuss:

• Introduction to Chewy Retail Media Network and its comparison to Amazon advertising - High-level observations about Chewy RMN, including its hyper-specificity and the loyalty of its pet product shoppers
• Positive results and efficiency of sponsored ads on Chewy RMN
• Importance of considering Chewy as a viable retail network option for pet brands 
• The possibility of brand conquesting on Chewy and its significance for competitors 
• Discussion on Walmart's stance on conquesting (uncertain, but potential loophole)
• Technical aspects of the Chewy Media Network, including its use of promote IQ and the availability of product listing ads (PLA)
• Mention of future plans for launching banner ads on Chewy RMN
• Overview of additional features provided by Pacvue, including campaign tagging and budget management
• Importance of campaign tagging for retail media allocation and comparing performance across platforms
• Audience targeting capabilities on Chewy, focused on contextual targeting rather than specific audience demographics.

Learn more about Acadia's Chewy advertising capabilities at https://acadia.io/services/retail-media-marketplaces/chewy-retail-media-management/

About Chewy's Retail Media Network: Chewy's retail media network is still quite new, having only opened up to advertisers recently. But it offers interesting potential, especially for brands in the pet care space looking to find new customers. As background, Chewy is solely focused on pet products, so their shopper base is very loyal and niche compared to mass retailers like Amazon or Walmart. Pet owners tend to stick with brands their furry friends like, making it a great channel for customer retention. How the Chewy Advertising Platform Works The self-serve platform Chewy uses is called PromoteIQ, by Microsoft. It's fairly basic - you get a simple dashboard to launch campaigns and view reporting. Right now Chewy only offers one campaign type, product listing ads (PLAs), similar to Amazon's sponsored products. But they plan to launch sponsored brand campaigns soon. Acadia partners with the ad tech platform Pacvue to enable enhanced campaign management and reporting beyond what PromoteIQ provides. Bidding and Targeting Capabilities Here's where Chewy differs from Amazon - you bid at the individual product (SKU) level rather than on keywords. So you can set a higher budget for your higher priority items. The ad targeting is contextual, meaning products show for shoppers browsing related categories or searching relevant terms. You control bids by product category and subcategory. Chewy does allow keyword bid modifiers, but you lack visibility into performance by keyword. So optimization can be more challenging than in Amazon. Why Chewy is Worth a Look for Pet Brands While the platform needs development, there are compelling reasons for pet brands to consider Chewy: - Early adopters can gain an advantage before competitors join - Conquesting competitors' shoppers is possible here - Loyalty means getting trial can lead to long-term buyers - Chewy incentivizes brands who help them grow revenue If you’re a brand in the pet category that sells on Chewy.com, it’s a no-brainer to get started with ads.