Retail Media In Your Ears: Inside Dollar General's 21,000-Store Audio Network

The next big advertising opportunity is here. The audio systems in Dollar General’s 21,000 stores connect shoppers with advertisers and drive loyalty. Austin Leonard, VP and GM of Dollar General Media Network (DGMN), sits down with Phillip and Alicia to explain why the retailer has doubled down on audio and the role that non-endemic advertisers play in his long-term vision.

“The Cocktail Party Effect”

Key takeaways:

• In-store audio is getting programmatic optimization so DG’s sponsors can serve ads at the best time of day and in the best-suited markets. 
• Non-endemic only works in-store if it clears the near-endemic bar: shopper relevance.
• Dollar General’s 21,000 stores across suburban, urban, and rural markets are often the only stores in town, making its ad inventory a community utility. 
• The Yellow Glasses Project pairs brand partners with the DG Literacy Foundation via iHeartRadio.
• [00:18:10] Phillip: "This is the power that I think audio has that nothing else has; it can catch your attention even when you're focused on something else."
• [00:32:40] Austin Leonard: "I call that the last mile of eCommerce for the last mile of America."
• [00:36:15] Austin Leonard: "The next era of retail media is really about accountability and also telling our story for our unique audiences."

In-Show Mentions:

• Find Austin Leonard on LinkedIn
• More about DG Media Network
• Yellow Glasses Project
• iHeartMedia, DG Literacy Foundation partnership featuring Bobby Bones
• Listen to Future Commerce’s episode with Collin Colburn of IAB

Associated Links:

• More retail media coverage on Future Commerce retail media hub
• Read: Insiders 237: “Vertical Dramas” and the New Era of Commerce Media
• Listen: LIVE from Shoptalk Spring: Retail Media Confessions, Hype Cycles, and the Creator Reckoning
• Read: Ad Infinitum: Retail Media is The Final Boss 
• VISIONS Summit at MoMA, New York City: Join us on November 3
• Watch: Future Commerce on YouTube
• Join Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

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