Proving retail media builds brands, not just conversions 

Despite an increase in spend across Retail Media Networks (RMNs), many brands still treat these as a purely transactional, lower-funnel tool.  

Tesco Media partnered with MTM on Moving Mindsets, a research project that documented shopper mindsets across the entire ecosystem, to prove its environments are just as powerful for emotive brand building as they are for driving sales. 

MTM combined shopper diaries, in-store and online shopalongs in a mixed method study blending UX research, behavioural observation, data analytics and large-scale quantitative modelling. 

We also conducted a large-scale quantitative survey of over 7,000 Tesco shoppers to build a rigorous, evidence-based picture of how shopper mindsets shift, moment to moment, across the Tesco journey. 

The team evaluated over 20,000 distinct mindset moments, mapping the outputs back against Tesco’s proprietary customer segments. 

Moving Mindsets identified seven distinct shopper mindsets and proved that retail environments act as major upper-funnel media channels. Key findings included:

- 46% of journey moments are actively open to inspiration 

- 78% of shoppers shift from a functional, closed mindset into an emotive, open one during the shop, a transition directly activated by strategic retail media touchpoints.  

The research also validated retail media for non-endemic advertisers. 

What’s more, the framework has shaped strategy with 24 brands and unlocked over £1.2m in tracked media revenue.