Managed retail media network in pharmacies and at gas stations

SNRG is a Kazakhstani technology company that helps retail chains and brands work with offline audiences: count visitors, analyze sales, and study customer behavior at points of sale. The SNRG Media Network division develops its own network of digital indoor advertising in pharmacies, medical centers, and stores at gas stations.

The average daily traffic of one location is about 450 people, and in medical centers — up to 2,500. The network covers pharmacy chains “Sadykhan,” Europharma, and “Apteka so sklada,” as well as gas station chains Compass and Petrol Asia.

The company was developing an advertising network in two different environments at once, and the operating scenarios in them differed fundamentally:

• Pharmacies. There were no digital screens in the halls, so the advertising channel had to be created from scratch. It was important to correctly place the screens in areas of maximum attention and configure ad display taking into account the strict requirements of the pharmaceutical segment.

• Gas stations. Screens were already installed and showing content, but were managed in a fragmented way. It was important to unify them into a single system without replacing equipment or changing the infrastructure of the stations.

General objective. To move from selling “screen time” to a transparent payment model for actual impressions (CPM). For this, it was necessary to centrally manage all screens from one center, accurately count impressions, and provide advertisers with real-time reporting.

Unified management platform
The network in pharmacies and at gas stations is based on our SMARTPLAYER platform. All screens are combined into a single system and distributed into groups: by cities, networks, and zones within locations. Compact media players are connected to the panels: content is stored locally and plays even with unstable internet, while statistics are transmitted to the cloud with second-level accuracy.

Pharmacy chains: launch from scratch
• A network of digital screens has been deployed in checkout areas and sales floors of pharmacies.
• Flexible display scenarios have been configured: rotation of videos, category buyout “without competitors,” time-of-day targeting.
• Content has been brought into compliance with requirements for advertising at points of sale in the pharmaceutical segment (informational showcase format).

Gas station chains: integration of existing screens
• Already installed panels have been connected to the platform remotely, without equipment replacement.
• An advertising layer has been added on top of existing content, management is seamless.
• A revenue sharing model has been implemented: advertising income is shared with the site owner, while maintaining the ability to show their own content.

Analytics and control
• DOOH analytics based on stereo cameras with neural networks has been connected: real reach (OTS) and contact time are measured.
• Monitoring of each screen’s condition has been configured: if a device goes offline, missed impressions are compensated to the advertiser.

Two projects with different logic have been combined into a single managed retail media network on the SMARTPLAYER platform:

• More than 240 devices in pharmacies, medical centers, and gas stations operate as a single advertising inventory; the network is scaling with a goal of reaching 2,000 displays.

• In pharmacies, a new advertising channel has been created from scratch at the point of purchase decision, generating additional revenue for the pharmacies themselves.

• Screens at gas stations have been turned into a source of income without equipment replacement and additional costs for the stations.

• A transition to selling verified contact has taken place: analytics showed that the actual audience of a location significantly exceeds the number of receipts (about 450 people vs. 150 receipts), and during waiting time in a queue, a visitor sees a brand’s video 3–4 times.

• Transparent reporting has been ensured: the advertiser sees impressions in a personal account in real time and gets a clear cost per contact instead of abstract “airtime days.”