CVS Launches Media Platform

After a few months of rumblings, CVS Pharmacy has officially launched CVS Media Exchange (cMx), a new digital media advertising platform that aims to connect brands with new and existing shoppers through highly targeted content.cMx gives participating brands access to a 360-degree suite of on- and off-site ad placements along the path to purchase, from in-store advertising and cvs.com banner ads to programmatic display, online video, social media and search engine ads, according to a press release emailed to the Path to Purchase Institute.“cMx allows brands to focus their ad spend on reaching the right customer at the right time, with maximum efficiency,” said Norman de Greve, chief marketing officer, CVS Health, in the release. “We take an audience-first approach, and can target both loyal and category shoppers and accurately validate the effectiveness of a campaign by measuring both online and offline sales.”The fully managed offering aims to serve up personalized and relevant ads and offers by drawing upon more than two decades worth of shopper insights from in-store and online transactions plus ExtraCare loyalty data from the program's more than 74 million members. Brands can also access the platform’s closed-loop reporting system as well as its other capabilities showing metrics such as brand sales lift, new buyer growth and brand health to assess return on ad spend. More information is available at cvs.com/cmx.“Our plans to launch cMx were already in motion prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as we know our investments in digital technology have allowed us to personalize engagements with customers and provide tremendous value to our CPG partners on the opportunities we have collaborated on, such as our email programs," Erin Condon, vice president of front store and omnichannel marketing, CVS Health told the Institute."We’re always looking for ways to meet our customers wherever, whenever and however they shop, and as e-commerce and omnichannel shopping continue to be on the rise, it was a natural opportunity to help deliver more value to our CPG partners as well as our customers, particularly as health and wellness continue to be top of mind for many consumers during this time," Condon said. "Now that the pandemic has forced both big and small brands to be nimble and deal with a challenging economy, many advertisers face even more pressure to maximize efficiencies and prove ROI. The cMx is a perfect option to help address both those areas.”Retailers such as Walmart, Target and Kroger have all been working in recent years to build up their digital media program assets to better establish themselves as legitimate and powerful options for national brand advertising. In addition to Path to Purchase IQ magazine's February feature story examining the current perception of retailer media platforms, Path to Purchase Institute members can review our comparison of key platform strengths and weaknesses (from our Trends Report 2020) and a library of recent campaigns on the leading platforms (from our ongoing industry tracking).

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