The Challenge
K-Citymarket is Finland’s largest hypermarket chain, known for its huge product range. But that created a paradox. Brands were spending millions advertising the very products K-Citymarket sells. Those ads successfully told people what to buy, but not where to buy it. As a result, the strongest proof of K-Citymarket’s selection was constantly visible in advertising, without benefiting the retailer itself. At the same time, Finland remains one of the few markets where linear TV still dominates culture and reach. Every night, millions of Finns watch the same commercial breaks. For K-Citymarket, this meant competing for attention inside the very ad breaks already filled with the products it sells. The challenge was not creating demand. The brands were already doing that. The challenge was becoming the place to buy.
The Solution
Instead of competing with the ads, K-Citymarket joined them. The retailer bought entire TV ad breaks and rebuilt real brand commercials down to the smallest detail. Then K-Citymarket inserted its own brand character into every ad, showing viewers that the advertised products could be found at K-Citymarket. Separate ads suddenly became one connected retail experience. In selected moments, viewers could also scan products directly into their online shopping cart, turning ad breaks into a shoppable platform. What normally works against retailers, multiple competing ads in the same break, was transformed into something collaborative. The model worked for everyone: Brands gained stronger retail conversion, customers instantly knew where to buy, and K-Citymarket proved the scale of its selection. Launched in 2024, the idea evolved into an ongoing platform, with more than 60 brands joining across TV, outdoor, social, radio, print, and in-store.