MIT SMR Connections
MIT SMR Connections was an independent unit within MIT Sloan Management Review. Operating separately from the editorial group, it created high-quality, sponsor-funded content. Connections no longer produces new content, but previously published sponsor-funded projects remain available on the MIT SMR website.
The revolution in mobile technology and e-commerce has put more information and more power into consumers’ hands, creating both an opportunity and a challenge for retailers and brands. The opportunity is to tap the wealth of data created along consumers’ digital path to purchase and gain insights into their desires and needs. The challenge? Taking full advantage of data will likely require disrupting old ways of doing business.
One aspect of the traditional relationship between brands and retailers that is particularly ripe for disruption is cooperative, or co-op, advertising, a nearly 100-year-old system in which brands support local retailers by funding a portion of their advertising. As consumers have gone digital, co-op funds are still largely spent on offline channels — and much of the money available for co-op advertising remains unspent.
How can brand–retailer relationships be enriched by information sharing in digital marketing? In this report, industry watchers from both the brand and the retail side share their perspectives on what’s working, what’s not, and how to advance everyone’s interests in the always-on, omnichannel economy.