BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Media Collective, the retail media arm for Albertsons Companies, Inc., has opened a new lane for brands inside its retail media network and pioneered a category for the industry: episodic, scripted branded entertainment, co-created with retailer shopper intelligence and distributed across the Albertsons Media Collective platform.
Through Albertsons Media Collective, brands can now bring a creative idea to the table and tap combined insights of shopper needs and key missions pairing a brand’s own retail performance insights at Albertsons Cos. with the retailer’s expertise in shopper and category buying patterns to inform the campaign creative. Procter & Gamble (P&G) is the strategic co-development partner for the inaugural work under this model, bringing its deep consumer knowledge and entertainment heritage to the Minivela drama, Rico’s Tacos.
The result is a shift in what retail media can be: not a place to run an ad after it is made, but a place where content is curated and distributed. Albertsons Cos. co-created and filmed the Minivela drama with P&G and its production partner Brilla Media at Albertsons Cos. stores featuring real in-store associates. The retailer, in collaboration with Albertsons Media Collective, is further investing in amplifying Rico’s Tacos across its owned and social media channels.
“The brands that will win are the ones that connect with shoppers in relevant, everyday moments,” said Lela Coffey, Vice President, User Growth Acceleration at P&G. “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. That creates a closer link between the story, the audience, and the commercial outcome.”
Minivela Drama: The First Proof Point
Rico’s Tacos is the result of strategic co-creation between Albertsons Cos. and P&G. Albertsons Cos. contributed its shopper intelligence, retail media network and in-store production environment, while P&G brought its deep consumer knowledge and entertainment expertise. The result is creative informed by a shared understanding of consumer needs and shopping behaviors from the outset, rather than data applied after the work is complete.
“The idea for Rico’s Tacos emerged directly from the shopper insights and cultural intelligence shared by Albertsons Companies and P&G,” said Manny Ruiz, CEO of Minivela, and showrunner of Rico’s Tacos. “Those insights became the creative spark that shaped the franchise from the very beginning and continued to inform its development throughout the process. What makes this project so significant is that we’re not simply using data to optimize advertising—we’re using insights to inspire entertainment. By bringing together retail media, consumer understanding, creators, brands, and storytelling, we’ve created a new model for developing and distributing original content. We believe this is only the beginning of what’s possible.”
The Minivela series, Rico’s Tacos, is set in a Southern California neighborhood near Venice Beach. Designed for mobile viewing, each 1-to-2-minute episode follows a widowed father, his teenage daughter and her abuela as they build a family taco business and navigate questions of identity, resilience and legacy.
The series launches June 23 on Albertsons Cos.’ YouTube, social, and in-store platforms, with new episodes dropping weekly through the end of August. An episode will also premiere at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Click here to learn more.
Albertsons Media Collective: The Operating System
Albertsons Media Collective and Albertsons Cos. plan to scale similar campaigns across additional 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, SVP Retail Media at Albertsons Media Collective. “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. Branded storytelling stops feeling like advertising and starts feeling like culture. Our stores are the stage, our shoppers inspire the content, and our insights help guide effective storytelling. Albertsons Media Collective isn’t just a place to run an ad. It’s where branded entertainment can be built on shopper truth and brought to life inside the aisles where it sells.”
Branded entertainment is the newest tactic in a broader portfolio of media offerings that brands can access through Albertsons Media Collective. The retail media network gives brands a connected set of capabilities to drive growth across the shopper journey, including display, video, in-store digital signage, sponsored search, off-site media and Collective TV. Brands can use these tactics individually or together, and now with branded entertainment as part of the mix.