Albertsons is partnering with Procter & Gamble on "Rico's Tacos," a micro-drama series that marks a strategic shift in retail media from traditional item-and-price advertising to upper-funnel content marketing.

"Retail media is the only media transaction where the objective of the buyer and the seller is the same," said Brian Monahan, senior vice president of Albertsons Media Collective. "We're both trying to grow our shared business, and that should unlock a whole bunch of marketing programs and tactics and strategies beyond what we do today."

The collaboration emerged from executive strategy meetings where both companies applied consumer insights and shopper data to identify growth opportunities in the Hispanic market segment. The result is a modern take on the soap opera format, delivered as short-form, creator-style vertical video content.

How the partnership came together

The initiative targets Hispanic consumers through a multigenerational Southern California family running a taco stand outside an Albertsons store. Three P&G brands participate in the series: Bounty paper towels, Vicks VapoRub, and Head & Shoulders shampoo.

The content strategy relies on combining P&G's consumer insights with Albertsons' shopper data.

"The folks at Procter & Gamble are incredible marketers. They understand consumer insights, market trends, market dynamics," Monahan said. "We bring a lot of shopper insights, like why do people go to the grocery store, what do they put in the basket, what does that trip look like."

One episode features the grandmother making an emergency grocery run for avocados on Taco Tuesday, a storyline that reflects data showing that 8% of supermarket trips are driven by shoppers preparing meals who lack key ingredients.

Distribution spans digital and physical retail

New episodes drop every Tuesday across multiple touchpoints, including YouTube channels for both companies, a new video portal on Albertsons' website and mobile apps, in-store screen networks across Albertsons locations, and social media platforms.

Albertsons is deploying 1,000 in-store screens by year-end, equipped with content management software, ad serving technology, and beacon technology to measure effectiveness.

"We get half a billion trips into our stores every year, so we've got massive audiences moving throughout the stores," said Monahan.

The in-store format includes shortened clips, QR codes, and subtitles optimized for the retail environment. The video portal features surrounding product ads to drive conversion.

Retailers as distributors, not studios

Albertsons doesn't plan to become a content studio despite the initiative's success.

"We're really good at execution and operations. We're not particularly creative," said Monahan. "We're going to rely on our partners to do the storytelling and the content, and we're going to help with the insights, the distribution, and the measurement."

The retailer is fielding interest from other brands wanting to create similar episodic content, but Monahan’s team is pushing back on a one-size-fits-all approach.

"Before we decide we have a micro-drama hammer and everything looks like a micro-drama nail, let's look at the problem," he said. Alternative solutions might include gamified experiences or loyalty point programs depending on the business objective.

The initiative represents broader industry momentum toward expanding retail media beyond performance advertising. Instacart recently launched a shoppable feed, while Walmart acquired Vizio to enhance connected TV capabilities.

"You see retailers who are adding more to their toolkit throughout the purchase journey to work with their partners," Monahan said. "It's not just us; it's the whole industry."

The shift also involves bringing shopper marketing creativity into retail media.

"If you go into one of our stores and you look at the shopper marketing, you'll see some incredible creative," Monahan said. "I'm really curious to see how those creatives that have historically done shopper marketing start to think about these video screens throughout the store."

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