BRAT launches Romania's first independent system for measuring and certifying retail media performance

Retail media is a segment that has seen significant growth in advertising investment in recent years, both in Europe and in Romania, as retailers expand their media platforms in physical stores and in the digital environment, making them increasingly attractive to advertisers, who are allocating growing budgets. Consolidating retail media as a communication vertical alongside the other established media requires, in addition to growing investment by retailers in the necessary infrastructure, the use of the communication industry's standard benchmarks and indicators: standardised, independently verified, transparent media metrics that are comparable with those used for the other media channels.

The initiative for a project to measure and certify retail media performance came from Tiberiu Danetiu, Director Retail Media & Corporate Affairs at Auchan Romania, who worked with BRAT from the earliest stage of the project and helped bring together a group of companies to support the launch of the new measurement.

"Congratulations and thanks to BRAT for the vision, rigour and dedication with which it has supported the initiative we proposed almost two years ago: building a common framework for the industry. I believe this associative model of independent standardisation and certification for retail media is a first in Europe. > > Retail media combines high-volume traffic with audiences profiled on the basis of shopping behaviour, and brings the message close to the purchase decision: in store, in the app or online. Connecting campaigns with sales data allows brands and agencies to plan more relevantly, measure results and improve campaign performance. Standardisation and independent verification are essential to unlocking this potential." said Tiberiu Danetiu, Director Retail Media & Corporate Affairs, member of the Board of Auchan Romania.

The project is carried out on an associative basis, within a dedicated Department of BRAT, set up specifically to standardise the measurement of retail media performance and to verify it. BRAT's Retail Media Department, formally established on 20 October 2026, brings together retail operators, agencies and advertisers alike, and represents the vision and objectives of retail companies and investors in equal measure. The Department's members set the measurement and certification standards and rules by consensus, ensuring the independence and credibility of this self-regulatory effort.

"The involvement of retailers and of everyone in the retail media ecosystem in this project shows the maturity of this industry and a shared desire for progress. Independent and objective measurement is vital for any medium to prove its performance credibly and to gain access to significant investment. The fact that retail has come together within BRAT to establish unified, standardised metrics is an essential step: these performance indicators will objectively support communication effectiveness and create solid foundations for investment growth. BRAT has been running projects of this kind for more than 25 years, with proven results, and will continue to apply the principles of independence, transparency, credibility and comparability, principles that have brought real benefits to the media represented by the association."