Maximizing retail media adtech for creative collaborations

Coca-Cola, through panda ads, unlocks the potential of full-suite advertising solutions

As the media landscape evolves, marketers need to become more creative in their strategy to capture customers’ attention.  Brands are now partnering with streaming services, digital platforms, and media agencies to engage potential customers where they are browsing or shopping.

Collaborative partnerships within these networks, such as foodpanda’s panda ads, offer innovative solutions that align closely with consumer behaviors. It involves placing ads on a retailer’s website or app, like foodpanda, to increase brand visibility and sales for partner merchants as well as external brand partners.

“This adaptability and direct access to engaged shoppers make retail media an invaluable asset in a modern marketer’s toolkit, pushing brands to transition from conventional advertising to more dynamic, integrated strategies,” said Amer Bakshi, foodpanda Philippines Enterprise Director.

“For foodpanda, brands can enter collaborative partnerships across our verticals from food delivery and pick-up to grocery deliveries. We provide them with solutions within our in-app and off-app channels, allowing panda ads to engage with digital-native customers who want greater choice and accessibility, convenience, and a personalized experience.”

A refreshing collab

Insider Intelligence forecasts that retail media will be the fastest-growing advertising channel across media through 2027, with annual growth rates exceeding 20%. “As retail media continues to grow, there are even more reasons for brands to utilize it. Partnerships can be creative and take many forms to effectively achieve goals and drive growth to their business.”

For instance, among The Coca-Cola Company’s numerous partnerships in the Philippines, the collaboration with foodpanda has been particularly effective in boosting the brand’s reach, transactions, and sales both online and offline. A specially designed campaign encouraged consumers to pair Coca-Cola beverages with specific cuisine favorites, backed by promotions and incentives.

Bakshi highlighted that the partnership with Coca-Cola is an excellent example of leveraging the full range of advertising options within retail media. “While Coca-Cola is a well-established name in the beverages industry, standing out and effectively engaging with the target audience remains a challenge. Through panda ads, we offered them innovative advertising tools across both in-app and off-app channels, aiding them in driving growth and increasing campaign sales.”

To further drive top- of-mind for the brand, the campaign incentivized users via occasion penetration during special occasions like Christmas, Valentine’s or Mother’s Day. “We know that Christmas is a special time for Filipinos to eat with their family, so we specially mounted a campaign for this season by combining meal orders with Coke beverages. The partnership was seamlessly integrated into the “Pasko Like a Panda” Christmas campaign, aligning Coca-Cola with moments of joy and capitalizing on increased holiday shopping.”

He also added that the full range of customer communication channels was used to maximize the campaign’s reach covering both online and offline. “Others might get the impression that panda ads would only utilize in-app promotions but there are other channels and strategies to do. Some examples of the advertising solutions that we for Coca-Cola did include customer relationship management (CRM) ads, online branding, social media takeover, in- app activations, influencers and PR drops as well as voucher promotions, billboards on highways, digital out-of-home and condo ads.”

Through foodpanda’s FPasko initiative, a gamified activity was launched, which featured Coca-Cola as one of the major brand partners. “By associating the campaign with the cultural significance of Christmas, it deeply resonated with the target audience, driving engagement and participation from both app users and Coca-Cola enjoyers,” Bakshi explained.

The output

Denise Recomono, e-Commerce Senior Manager of The Coca-Cola Company, revealed that their campaign run on panda ads resulted in an increase in year-on-year total brand performance.  “In Q4 2023 alone, we ended the year with a bang by bagging 40% uplift in Coke Sales during our gamified Christmas campaign, garnering over a billion impressions.”

“foodpanda is a dream to work with-insights-driven recommendations, agile pivots where needed, and diligently looks over end-to-end execution until campaign end,” shared Recomono. “We offer advertisers the opportunities to tap into our full-funnel marketing solutions on foodpanda and tailor the channels to help the brands reach their objectives. I believe this makes panda ads stand out from other partnerships,” Bakshi ended.