The retail roadmap: How ICA Maxi used programmatic DOOH to drive a 29% lift in store visits

Expanding the message into the public journey

In grocery retail, timing and proximity matter. ICA Maxi, a leading Swedish “Stormarknad” (superstore) known for its commitment to low prices, wanted to reinforce its low-price promise as part of a broader campaign running across multiple channels in March 2026. To extend this campaign, ICA Maxi used programmatic DOOH as a high-impact channel to bring the “Maxi Klipp” (Maxi Bargains) message closer to shoppers in relevant public environments.

Together with Vistar Media and Kinesso Sweden, ICA Maxi activated a one-week programmatic DOOH campaign to amplify “Maxi Klipp” messaging near store locations across Sweden. The activation combined point-of-interest (POI) targeting, national DOOH scale and footfall measurement to connect promotional creative with measurable store visit impact.

The challenge: amplifying a broader campaign with pDOOH 

ICA Maxi wanted to use programmatic DOOH as a high-impact amplification layer within its broader retail campaign. The challenge consisted in extending its value message into public environments, reaching shoppers at scale and measuring whether exposure contributed to incremental store visits. As a brand that positions itself as "Störst på låga priser" (Biggest on low prices), ICA Maxi’s campaign needed to hit several marks at once:

• Highlight specific value offers across everyday grocery categories
• Reach consumers across 50+ Swedish cities, with strong presence in Stockholm and Gothenburg
• Prioritise high-traffic environments such as transit hubs, malls, retail locations, and urban panels
• Measure whether DOOH exposure translated into incremental store visits

The strategy: combining proximity targeting with high-impact environments

To support ICA Maxi’s pDOOH campaign, Kinesso Sweden and Vistar Media built a strategy around three core elements: retail proximity, high-traffic environments, and bold offer-led creative.

Proximity targeting 
The campaign used POI-based targeting to activate relevant DOOH screens in proximity to ICA Maxi store locations across Sweden. This helped connect ICA Maxi’s offers with consumers in environments where grocery consideration was likely to be high.

Strategic environment selection 
To reach shoppers in the right mindset, the campaign was deployed across a mix of high-impact environments:

• Retail and malls: to influence consumers already in a purchasing frame of mind.
• Outdoor and urban panels: to maintain a dominant presence in city centres.

• Transit and train stations: to engage the daily commuting audience.

Creative approach: bold visuals, playful copy and clear price points
The campaign used three video assets with clear price points, strong product visuals, and playful Swedish copy to reinforce ICA Maxi’s low-price positioning. Creative examples included:

• Diapers: "Mer BYTEN för mindre BAGIS!" (More changes for less money).
• Lunch boxes: "Mer SPARA för mindre PARA!" (More saving for less cash).
• Risifrutti: "Mer RIS för mindre PRIS!" (More rice for less price). 

The results: turning exposure into real-world retail outcomes

During the one-week programmatic DOOH activation, ICA Maxi delivered national scale and measurable store visit impact as part of its wider media campaign.

• Significant store visits lift: Based on a study run by Spotzi, the campaign achieved a +29.3% average lift in store visits compared to the control group.
  
  
• Campaign scale: The campaign generated more than 5.4 million total impressions in just 7 days and achieved 674,000 unique reach.
  
  
• Immediate consumer action: The majority of first-time visits occurred within 1–3 days of ad exposure. 
  
  
• National coverage: 50+ Swedish cities activated, with the highest impression volumes in Stockholm and Gothenburg.
  
  
• Venue performance: Transit and train stations delivered the highest impression volume, accounting for over 3.4M of the total impressions. The campaign ran across premium DOOH inventory from Ocean Outdoor Sweden, JCDecaux Sweden, and Bauer Media Outdoor Sweden, helping ICA Maxi reach consumers across transit, retail, mall, and urban environments.

Audience analysis also revealed a compelling contrast in shopper behaviour: “The Savvy Saver” segment (budget-conscious shoppers prioritising utility) delivered the highest volume of shoppers, while “The Executive Family” segment (high-income families focused on premium household needs) proved to be the most efficient converters, significantly over-indexing in store visits. 

Why this strategy works

ICA Maxi used programmatic DOOH to make a national retail campaign locally relevant. Instead of relying on broad reach, the strategy focused delivery around store proximity, high-traffic environments and moments where grocery consideration was likely to be higher.

By combining POI-based targeting, premium DOOH inventory and offer-led creatives, ICA Maxi extended its value message into public spaces close to relevant shopping journeys.

The result was more than visibility. With a +29.3% lift in store visits versus the control group, the campaign shows how retailers can use programmatic DOOH to turn promotional campaigns into measurable store visits.

"For this campaign, we chose to activate programmatic DOOH because it allowed us to efficiently combine flexibility and optimisation across multiple media owners in a complex setup with a short campaign period, and with many rules and several controls to manage."

Emil Arnesson | Senior Addressable Media Planner at Kinesso Sweden (Part of Omnicom Media)