Extra tips to Boost Your Retail Media Plan

Earlier this year, we outlined the key steps to building a high-performing Retail Media plan.

To go further, two additional levers deserve particular attention when structuring your strategy:

  • Media budget allocation timing

  • Media mix optimization

These elements play a critical role in maximizing impact. By strategically allocating investments throughout the year and optimizing your channel mix, brands can build a more effective Retail Media plan, sustain a strong presence across key moments, and fully capitalize on the MMD media ecosystem.

1. Identify the right timing for allocating media budget

A. Identify must-win periods
   > Quarters where the market invests heavily  
          = key commercial moments + decisive moments for the brands.
   > Brand benefit:
          Prioritize budget allocation during these periods to drive performance when purchase intent is at its highest.


B.  Identify under-invested periods
   > Periods where the market under-invests 
          = opportunities for cost-efficient visibility + lower competitive pressure resulting in bigger SOM.
   > Brand benefit:
          Build a more efficient plan with smooth media pressure across the year.

At MMD, we observe the same pattern every year. Looking at Q3, brands tend to underinvest and shift budgets toward Q4.

The consequences?

  • Declining share of voice
  • Higher costs in peak season
  • The need to overcompensate later

That’s exactly why we recommend allocating a strategic minimum of 23% of the annual media budget to Q3.

Why 23%? Because it’s the threshold that allows brands to:

  • Stay close to a balanced yearly distribution
  • Maintain share of voice when competitive pressure is lower
  • Enter peak season with performance already consolidated

Q3 is not a quarter to scale down.

It’s the strategic bridge between the mid-year slowdown and the high-pressure fourth quarter. 
Secure it — and you secure your Q4 performance.
Brands that invest consistently during “quieter” periods are the ones that dominate when competition intensifies.

The real question is not:
“Can we reduce in Q3?”

It’s:
"Can we afford to disappear for three months?"

2. Define the right media mix

Key takeaways for building a retail media plan: 

  • Diversifying media budget across the MMD media ecosystem remains crucial.
  • Brands should preserve budget for test & learn initiatives, enabling them stay innovative and differentiate from competitors

   > In-store media : 

  • Despite prediction of a shift toward online media, investments in in-store media continue to grow, cementing its role as a key channel.
  • Confirms strong impact on performance and shopper engagement.
  • Driven by unique experiences such as tastings.


   > Online media  :

  • Sustained growth driven by:
    • Increasing budgets for onsite media, supported by the expansion of Delhaize’s e-commerce platform and additional inventory for campaigns.
    • Rise of offsite activations, a retail media trend that extends retail media impact beyond retailer-owned platforms using first-party data.
       

   > Personalized media :

  • Steady growth reflects the increasing importance of data-driven activations.
  • Enables more efficient, targeted one-to-one communication with shoppers.