Loblaw Media is no more now that the company has launched Advance powered by Loblaw, a new division that is consolidates the retailer’s omnichannel network and data capabilities.

Advance is designed for advertisers looking to navigate its retail media environment, merging existing key capabilities from Loblaw Media with those from the PC Optimum sales, Loblaw Data Insights & Analytics, consulting and subscriptions teams. It aims to be a single point of entry for brands to maximize efficiency in planning and executing omnichannel campaigns on Loblaw’s media network, which includes both off-site and on-site digital media, as well as recently added in-store screens and audio.

The new division is led by Alfredo C. M. Tan, SVP and managing director, who had the same title with Loblaw Media.

“It is a significant operating model shift for us,” Tan says. “It’s a new division that is focused heavily on the future of retail media, how we bring together our capabilities with PC Optimum, our ability around retail insights and analytics and our consulting division. Think of it as the area of the business that is now consolidating all of our client capabilities into a single organization – and also a touchpoint that collaborates with a lot of organizations to make sure that we’re bringing the best solution to brands in Canada.”

Advance is a full-service media organization that offers both managed service and self serve capabilities for clients. It already has a few hundred clients who are utilizing data from one billion annual transactions across nearly 2,500 stores, 10 million unique monthly visitors to its digital platforms and a loyalty program with nearly 16 million active members.

“I think what’s important is that this is just the beginning,” Tan says. “This is significant for our growth strategy moving forward and is being backed and heavily supported by Galen Weston, our chairman and CEO. We have very high aspirations to continue to expand our offerings in terms of what we were going to offer to the market from a product solutions and measurement perspective. And we will increasingly increase our sophistication on how we service the market as well from sales and client perspective.”

Retail media is one of the fastest growing media in Canada and around the world, something Tan describes as a global phenomenon and “the third wave of disruption in digital marketing.” He says in Canada, retail media is growing at a rate of 24% to 27%; while the channel is more developed in the U.S., Tan says that in his visits to the U.K. and Europe, he found the figures to be similar to what is being seen here.