Q&A: 9 Common Questions Agencies Ask About Catalina

Catalina is the original Retail Media Network, a pioneer of 1:1 personalized media, offers and incentives since our founding 40 years ago.

We’ve evolved beyond in-store coupons to seamlessly connect shopper experiences across channels. Our solutions leverage real-time purchase-based data for targeting, campaign management, and reporting, driving results across the entire marketing funnel.

Here are some of the questions advertising and media agencies most frequently ask us about our capabilities. If your question isn’t addressed, please reach out to us here.

CAPABILITIES
Optimize every stage of planning, execution, and measurement. Learn what motivates buyers – online and offline -- using a rich, real-time blend of granular purchase-based data and shopper insights about nearly all US households.

Q: What type of retailers are included in your network? Is it possible to drive sales to retailers outside it?
A: Our robust retailer footprint includes many of the largest grocery and drug banners across the U.S. Additionally, we enrich our purchased and transaction data with all-outlet receipt scans to understand and engage shoppers of virtually any grocery, drug or mass retailer, including Amazon and Walmart. In fact, Catalina can reach shoppers at the national, regional, and local levels, down to a zip code or even a particular store. We also can serve high-impact units with add-to cart functionality, seamlessly adding advertised products to e-commerce shopping carts.

Q: What makes Catalina stand out compared to other purchase-based audience solutions?
A: We go beyond our own deterministic sales data, partnering with third-party data providers to enhance the reach and richness of our data. This includes receipt scan panels, location data, demographics, and ingredient preferences. Importantly, all our campaigns include sales impact measurement, connecting exposed households and key metrics such as sales, buyers, sales lift, and iROAS.

AUDIENCES
Our real-time Catalina Shopper Intelligence Platform weaves our 1:1 deterministic data with rich third-party sources, creating a deep well of insights into more than 400M Shopper IDs.

We combine purchase receipts and panel data, retailer visit behavior, media consumption, demographics and lifestyle data, and ingredient preferences to paint a clear picture of what, where, and why shoppers buy.

Q: Can I use your audiences on our DSP or social platforms?
A: Our data and audiences are exclusively available through our closed-loop, full-service offering, ensuring optimal performance and campaign management.

Q: Are your audiences modeled or deterministic?
A: We can leverage both approaches, but we typically recommend modeled audiences to maximize scale.

ACTIVATION
Engage any shopper anywhere through precisely orchestrated, highly personalized omnichannel messages and offers in-store and across digital media, TV and Out-of-Home.

Whether your audience is watching TV at home, browsing online, or in the store, we can help you reach your most valuable shoppers.

Q: Can I run campaigns on Catalina's DSP?
A: Beeswax is our primary DSP, but we can provide a list of compatible sites and apps. For maximum efficiency, we recommend the programmatic open exchange, with brand safety protocols in place.

Q: Does Catalina accept third-party tags?
A: Yes. We accept third-party tags for monitoring and can develop PMP deals (though these typically have a higher CPM). We can verify the compatibility of your third-party provider tags.

Q: What brand safety guidelines does Catalina have in place when activating on Open Exchange?
A: We’re happy to share the details of our brand safety protocols with you. They exceed the industry standards set for the Open Exchange and comply with GDPR and CCPA data privacy regulations.

MEASUREMENT
Performance matters, and that’s why we help brands understand what’s working best. Our multi-touch attribution and post-campaign reports track responsiveness and sales impact across channels, allowing for in-flight adjustments to optimize your media spend.

We focus on the metrics that matter: Sales lift, incremental sales, total ROAS, penetration drivers, buy rate, frequency, and attribution by channel, creative, and audience.

Q: What are your benchmarks for CTR and VCR? Sales lift and iROAS?
A: Benchmarks for metrics like click-through rate and video-completion rate vary by media unit but align with industry expectations. For sales lift and iROAS, we can provide averages by category and overall performance. Remember, factors like seasonality, audience composition, and media mix can influence results.

Q: Can you provide guaranteed outcomes for sales, ad2cart, and viewability?
A: We offer guarantees on viewability, but this may require a higher CPM. While we cannot guarantee outcomes for sales and add-to cart, you’ll have complete transparency through our in-flight dashboards and pacing updates.

If your question isn’t addressed, please visit Why Catalina or reach out to us at Results@catalina.com.