The inaugural Drum Commerce Media Awards has cast a global spotlight on the rapid evolution of the Middle Eastern retail media landscape. Among the winners, a collaborative project from the region was awarded Best In-store Digital Retail Media Activation, signaling a significant shift in how physical retail environments are being integrated into the global programmatic ecosystem.
The winning entry: a partnership involving Haleon, Publicis Groupe Middle East, and Advertima was deployed on Majid Al Futtaim’s Precision Media network within Carrefour stores. While the award recognizes a specific execution, its broader significance lies in the technical framework used to bridge the gap between digital precision and physical footfall.
Redefining the In-Store Experience
For the adtech industry, the physical store has traditionally been a “black box” regarding real-time data. Unlike e-commerce, where user behavior is tracked instantaneously, in-store advertising has historically relied on static loops and estimated impressions.
The activation represented a departure from these traditional Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) models through a strategy orchestrated by Publicis Media and Zenith. By integrating Advertima’s Audience AI with a programmatic stack including The Neuron, Place Exchange, and Adtrac the project demonstrated the feasibility of real-time, audience-based targeting within a high-traffic grocery environment.
This technical stack allowed for the automated delivery of content based on the specific demographic segments present in front of a screen at any given moment, effectively merging agency strategic oversight with high-fidelity automation.
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A Strategic Perspective
The success of the campaign highlights a maturing regional ecosystem where brands, agencies, and technology providers are synchronizing to solve the challenge of omnichannel consistency.
Commenting exclusively on the industry impact of the win, Mazen Mroueh, Head of Retail Media & Partnerships, Publicis Media said,
“I won’t pretend this doesn’t mean the world to me. Being recognized by a global jury for work done right here in the Middle East is something I’ll carry for a long time. What excites me most is that this is just the beginning, the convergence of AI-driven targeting and physical retail is a space full of possibility, and moments like this remind me why we do what we do. Thank you to all our partners who contributed in this win. “
The Shift Toward Standardized Measurement
From an editorial perspective, the recognition of this project by a global jury in Miami indicates that the capabilities which made online retail media a dominant force—such as granular targeting and immediate measurement—are now being successfully ported into the physical world.
The involvement of Majid Al Futtaim’s Precision Media and tech partners like Grassfish further underscores the importance of a unified infrastructure. For the Middle East, this win serves as a proof point that the region’s adtech maturity is now meeting and in some cases, exceeding international benchmarks.
As the global industry continues to define the boundaries of “Commerce Media,” the focus will likely shift toward how these real-time, AI-driven deployments can be scaled across wider retail footprints to provide brands with the accountability they have come to expect from digital channels.
