Tesco Media and Insight Platform, powered by dunnhumby, creates the UK’s largest retail out-of-home digital display network

• Network of 500 digital screens at Tesco stores now reach over 75% of in-store shoppers, as part of the Tesco Media & Insight Platform
• SmartScreen technology, powered by dunnhumby and JCDecaux UK, allows brands and agencies to boost return on ad spend through advanced store targeting

LONDON – 16 August 2022 – Tesco, dunnhumby, and JCDecaux have today announced the creation of the UK’s biggest retail-based digital display advertising network – the result of a significant expansion to the Tesco digital screen estate.

The SmartScreen network, available through the Tesco Media & Insight Platform, combines JCDecaux’s digital display technology with dunnhumby’s insight-driven approach to media, enabling ad scheduling to be optimised based on audience behaviours and sales. With over 400 digital screens installed outside Tesco stores since the launch in 2015, the addition of a further 100 displays means that the UK’s largest grocery retailer now hosts the country’s largest retail out-of-home screen network too.

“We’ve heard a lot about the rise of online shopping over the past few years, but we know that the majority of spend still takes place in stores,” says Nick Ashley, Head of Media and Campaign Planning at Tesco. “Media installations like the SmartScreen network help us deliver a more engaging shopping experience for our customers, while providing brand advertisers with a valuable communications channel.”

Six million shoppers a fortnight

With 100 new displays in place, the digital out-of-home network covers a sizeable portion of the Tesco’s store portfolio, meaning advertisers now have access to 63% of large-format Tesco stores. In real terms, the digital out-of-home expansion will provide brands with the opportunity to reach more than six million shoppers every fortnight.

“The SmartScreen format allows brands to focus their advertising spend on the stores where they know it will have the greatest impact,” says Stacy Gratz, Regional Managing Director for Media, UK at dunnhumby. “Through our unique knowledge of customers, we can help brands reach those with the relevant customer lifestyle. It also means we’re able to help brands understand who their ‘best’ customers are, and which stores they frequent, eliminating ad spend wastage in the process.”

Connected Store: a growing opportunity for advertisers

The digital out-of-home network represents a key element in Tesco’s ‘Connected Store’ approach to customer engagement, which sees the use of digital technologies, integration of online and offline journeys, and data-driven personalisation to deliver more cohesive and rewarding customer experiences. SmartScreens form one of three core pillars within the Prime, Prompt, Purchase model to help drive effectiveness of in-store campaigns, alongside in-store radio, point-of-sale and other innovative solutions soon to launch such as scan as you shop media, and in-store digital signage.

As well as expanding the network, a recent update helped simplify the media buying process for brands and agencies. Three new purchasing options – Broadcast, Optimisation, and Programmatic – allow media planners to buy advertising space in the way that matches their specific needs, supported by a new, dunnhumby-powered data dashboard that supports better-informed and more agile buying strategies.

“The Tesco out-of-home digital network has always represented a hugely powerful advertising opportunity for our clients,” says Mark Bucknell, Chief Commercial Officer at JCDecaux UK. “These new developments strengthen that even further, blending unrivalled reach with a customer-centric approach to planning and buying, making campaigns even more efficient and targeted.”

About dunnhumby 

dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science, empowering businesses everywhere to compete and thrive in the modern data-driven economy. We always put the Customer First.  

Our mission: to enable businesses to grow and reimagine themselves by becoming advocates and champions for their Customers. With deep heritage and expertise in retail – one of the world’s most competitive markets, with a deluge of multi-dimensional data – dunnhumby today enables businesses all over the world, across industries, to be Customer First. 

The dunnhumby Customer Data Science Platform is our unique mix of technology, software and consulting, enabling businesses to increase revenue and profits by delivering exceptional experiences for their Customers – in-store, offline and online. dunnhumby employs over 2,000 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas working for transformative, iconic brands such as Tesco, Coca-Cola, Meijer, Procter & Gamble, Raley’s, L’Oréal and Monoprix.  

About Tesco Media & Insight Platform

Tesco Media & Insight Platform is a partnership between Tesco, the UK’s largest grocery retailer, and dunnhumby, a global leader in Customer Data Science. Together, we always put the customer first.

Everything we do is fuelled by the insights generated via over 20 million Tesco Clubcard holders, a diverse, nationally representative, first-party behavioural dataset. We empower suppliers with granular insights so they can identify their most important customers and understand what matters to them.

We help serve Brands and Agencies via a unique mix of technology, software, and Insight and Media products which collectively help provide customers with a more personalised and relevant shopping experience. As the UK’s largest closed-loop Grocery Media & Insight Platform we’re able to connect the dots between advertising exposure and customer behaviour across online and offline touchpoints to help Brands make better product, marketing, and commercial decisions and understand the true impact of their investment.