Asos enlists Criteo to scale retail media network, support ad sales

Dive Brief:

Asos has named Criteo its exclusive ad-tech partner for endemic brand advertising as the online fashion giant builds out its retail media network, according to a press release.
Criteo will enhance Asos Media Group’s (AMG) existing offerings, including targeted emails and on-site display ads, as part of the three-year agreement. The deal also introduces a new intent-based sponsored ad format for search results and product listing pages on Asos’ website.
Criteo’s work with Asos extends into off-site channels like premium publishers and connected TV (CTV). The Criteo capabilities are initially available in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany, but are expected to expand to Asos’ other global markets.

Dive Insight:

Asos joins other retailers in tapping third-party ad-tech vendors to increase the scale and technological sophistication of their retail media networks. Both companies have a deep background in the e-commerce arena, and Asos is relying on Criteo to help implement new advertising formats as well as improve existing ones under the AMG banner. Along with bringing on-site offerings like sponsored ads to its roster, the move will let Asos crack into off-site areas that are of growing interest to retailers, including CTV. Additionally, Criteo will assist with AMG’s ad sales efforts with brands and agencies in select markets.

Bringing Criteo into the fold comes as Asos seeks to more effectively reach valuable young cohorts like Gen Z that have expressed preferences for online shopping and fast fashion. A bigger focus on retail media also aims to help Asos generate more revenue as it struggles with growth.

“The ASOS vision is to become the go-to global destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings and we want to take brands on the journey with us, helping advertisers showcase their products through our fashion lens,” said Elton Ollerhead, director of AMG, in a statement around the Criteo deal.

The London-based e-tailer first entered the retail media game in 2021. Retail media has experienced a surge of investment from brands that want to place their advertising messages closer to the point of purchase while using first-party shopper data for more precise targeting. Retail media is forecast by researchers to be the fastest-growing marketing channel this year, a rare bit of momentum in an otherwise anemic digital advertising market.

Criteo is the exclusive partner for Asos’ endemic brand advertising, meaning its purview will focus on the apparel, accessories and cosmetic categories that are native to the e-commerce company’s app and website. The new sponsored ads, for instance, will appear in a curated edit of around 70,000 products from nearly 900 brands that sell on Asos, along with in-house labels such as Asos Design and Topshop/Topman. Asos acquired the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from now-defunct Arcadia Group for $364 million in 2021.

Asos last year enacted a sweeping overhaul of its business after appointing José Antonio Ramos Calamonte as CEO in June. The company is still in the transitional phase of its turnaround plan, and last month appointed its second interim CFO. It is still searching for a permanent finance chief.