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Dive Brief:

• Procter & Gamble is taking another swing at episodic, short-form branded content, this time with the retail media arm of Albertsons, according to a press release.
• The CPG giant and Albertsons Media Collective brought together their combined shopper intelligence and entertainment know-how to craft “Rico’s Tacos,” with support from the microdrama platform Minivela and production partner Brilla Media. The Southern California-set show will air across Albertsons’ YouTube, social and in-store channels.
• The P&G microdrama experiment is the first fruit of a new offering from Albertsons Media Collective that seeks to branch beyond ads into branded entertainment that leverages first-party data and can be distributed through the grocer’s media network.

Dive Insight:

Shopper insights played a key role guiding the development of “Rico’s Tacos,” which follows a widowed father, his daughter and her combat fatigues-sporting grandmother as they try to start a taco business. Along their journey, the narrative touches on themes like identity, resilience and legacy. 

“What makes this collaboration notable is that the creative was developed with Albertsons Cos. using shopper insights at the outset, rather than applying data only after the work is made,” said Lela Coffey, vice president of user growth acceleration at P&G, in a press statement. “That creates a closer link between the story, the audience and the commercial outcome.”

A sizzle reel teases appearances from P&G brands including Bounty, Head & Shoulders and Vick’s, as well as a shop-the-series feature in Albertsons’ mobile app. Scenes from the show were shot in Albertsons stores with real employees while customers will soon be able to catch snippets of “Rico’s Tacos” while they’re wandering the aisles and putting products in their cart.

The new content offering from Albertsons Media Collective invites brands to come to the network with creative concepts that can be refined through first-party data and eventually distributed through the grocery chain’s media channels, including in its stores. 

Retail media networks are vying to build out their upper-funnel capabilities, including in video, while marketers’ appetites for branded entertainment is only growing, with mobile-first, short-form microdramas a major trend of the moment. Retail media data historically has been valued for its ability to refine targeting and measurement for more performance-oriented marketing, but Albertsons wants to test the bounds of how it shapes brand narratives and audience appeal.  

P&G and Albertsons tapped Minivela, which develops creator-powered microdrama content largely targeted at Latino audiences, to assist with the project. Minivela CEO Manny Ruiz acted as showrunner for “Rico’s Tacos,” which premieres June 23 and will be released in one- to two-minute episodes through August. The debut will happen at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a major gathering for advertisers.

P&G’s Native personal care brand earlier this year launched a 50-part microdrama series that is tonally more indebted to classic soap operas but still aligned with the craze for bite-sized vertical video content. P&G’s history with soap operas stretches back to the genre’s origins, hence the “soap” part of the name. Offerings from the marketer like Duz and Ivory sponsored some of the foundational programs in this space.

Albertsons Media Collective said “Rico’s Tacos” is just a first step for its content ambitions, with plans to scale similar efforts across series, formats and brand collaborations in the months ahead. 

“Retail media is evolving beyond placements toward work that drives brand love, commerce and measurement,” said Brian Monahan, senior vice president of retail media at Albertsons Media Collective, in a statement. “With aggregated shopper insights that shape the creative and evaluate performance, brands have a clearer view of what is resonating with their customers and what is driving results.”