CEO Insights: Why Colateral Bought Turbyne

I didn’t choose to acquire this company based on data—it was personal. My grandparents ran a shop in Cornwall, serving their community and building enduring relationships with their  customers. So, from a very young age, I’ve always seen the value in that in-store connection.

This acquisition enables a vision I have been channelling for much longer than the current Retail Media hype, namely the power of harnessing an in-store audience. Just ask anyone at Colateral what I’ve been talking about for years and years, and I guarantee they’ll all say something about monetising store environments. 

Today, despite the rise of digital shopping, 80% of purchases still happen in physical stores. Yet, retailers are pouring money into selling digital ads while overlooking their most valuable retail asset – their brick-and-mortar locations.

The Untapped Power of Physical Stores

Retailers focus their Retail Media efforts towards online advertising but miss the real opportunity: transforming their stores into dynamic media platforms. While the industry obsesses over on and off platform channels, in-store media remains massively under-utilised. 

They’re treating their brick-and-mortar locations as simply the end point of a transaction, ignoring the huge marketing potential of these spaces. Don’t get me wrong, digital channels are important, and digital screens in stores are impactful, but they are not the panacea for in-store. Thus, it’s time for an in-store-first approach, leveraging physical spaces for retail revenue growth while providing personalised, engaging experiences.

The Future of Retail Media

In my opinion, there are significant incremental Retail Media growth opportunities for all retailers by: 1) expanding their inventories (new channels and formats), 2) improving accessibility to smaller brands, and 3) simplifying the buying and management process. Which leads me nicely on to the acquisition of Turbyne…

Colateral already simplifies in-store Retail Media management, and with Turbyne, we connect that in-store experience to the broader physical and digital ecosystem—without adding any complexity. By combining Turbyne and Colateral, we’re creating a unified solution that will redefine retail media.

We’re able to provide something that enables:

• Access to mid-sized and smaller brands
• Simplicity across the entire retail media ecosystem
• Retailers of all types and sizes to land their fair share of retail media spending

By acquiring Turbyne and combining it with Colateral, we’re creating a unified offering that addresses a critical gap in the market – a true in-store first approach to Retail Media that allows retailers to capitalise on their whole inventory.

I believe in the future of physical retail, not as a relic of the past, but recalling my childhood as an environment with engaging experiences and a space brimming with untapped potential. 

It’s time for retailers to realise the value sitting right under their noses—their stores. 

Dorian Spackman, CEO