Blow for Torch Media as Woolworths takes in-store advertising in-house
Woolworths has ditched Torch Media as its in-store advertising agency and created an in-house division to handle all promotions on its owned assets.
The termination of the deal is a major blow for out-of-home specialist Torch which has held the valuable Woolworths account for a decade.
The move by Woolworths, reported in today’s edition of The Australian, will mean suppliers will no longer deal with an agency to advertise within Woolworths stores but directly with a newly-formed Media Hub department at the supermarkets head office.
The new arrangement, which is expected to begin next month, will include advertising on trolleys, baskets and leaflets hanging from shelves.
Suppliers were told of the move in correspondence from Woolworths general manager Rod Evenden who told them they would be invited to the launch of the Media Hub next month to view the in-store advertising opportunities.
Torch Media has been approached by Mumbrella for comment but had not responded at time of publication.
The move to cut out the middle man is expected to save Woolworths a sizeable sum at a time when it is shedding 400 jobs and investing more than $500m in “delivering lower prices, better service and more attractive offers”.
Steve Jones
An in-house advertising-agency-like department for Woolworths? How novel :).
Talk about turning full circle – sheesh!
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They sure did “Torch” them.
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i would expect quantium will be involved in some way too. in store media can be highly targeted based on shopping behaviour at store level.
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@Anon
How is that Quantium relationship going? I guess that will be up for review soon , considering their hefty investment in Quantium’s big data / anaytics capability. You can mine your data all you want, the answer is right in front of you – dirty and dated stores, sell the brands as Coles, crap customer service, fruit and veg that isn’t fresh….
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