Kraft Heinz and Gatorade tap in-store video screens for March Madness

This month, Kraft Heinz and Gatorade used a new in-store ad format supported by Cooler Screens that pipes in ads to 10,000 in-store screens all at once. The video ad technology company Cooler Screens has been expanding their footprint in retail chains like Walgreens and Kroger, allowing CPG brands to show ads and promotions to in-person shoppers in the refrigerated aisles and, more recently, at checkout and throughout the store.

Gatorade is currently running ads for its new energy drink Fast Twitch. Kraft Heinz tested ads for multiple brands, including Velveeta. Both campaigns used basketball themes to connect with March Madness fans.

Why we care. Cooler Screens’ technology shows video images of in-stock products to shoppers when they’re deciding what to grab and buy. This makes the screens eye-catching and relevant for serving ads. On the back end, the technology uses “identity-blind” sensors for traffic and behavior data that demonstrates campaign performance.

At a time when many retailers are launching their own retail media networks (RMNs), Cooler Screens cuts across a number of retailers with this new all-at-once offering, giving big brands opportunity to scale, and to do so with a video experience that is more useful and interactive than standard in-store video screens.

Dig deeper: Why we care about retail media networks

In-store network. Cooler Screens’ 10,000 screens across retailers serve ads to nearly 100 million viewers per month.

Using data from the screens, brands can measure sales lift, brand equity and real-time shopper actions — like opening the refrigerator door — to optimize the campaigns.

The Kraft Heinz test campaigns delivered between three and six percentage points in sales lift across their brands.