Why do brands keep sending the wrong file size? Retail media specs that actually get used

The media kit nobody opened

Elena manages retail media for a regional pharmacy chain: 180 stores, a totem in each window, digital screens at the till, a monthly leaflet. Her team spent weeks building a media kit, a 24-page PDF with every format, bleed, safe zone and file rule.

In October, 31 files arrive for the leaflet. Nine are the wrong size. Four have no bleed. Two screen files are landscape for a portrait screen. One agency asks for "the specs" for the third time this year. The media kit was sent to the brand's trade marketer in spring and never left her inbox.

Elena's team spends three days writing back, fixing files themselves and chasing replacements. The leaflet goes to print one day late. A page is filled with a house ad.

The business problem

For a retailer, every wrong file is unpaid work, a production risk and a delay that can cost sold space. A media kit is a document, not a process: it doesn't follow the brief, and the agency that builds the file has never seen it.

The more formats a retail media network sells, the bigger the problem.

How does RMM make sure files arrive at the right spec?

• Publish each space once. Every format is defined in RMM with dimensions and unit, orientation, colour profile, bleed, maximum file weight, location and notes for the producer.
• The spec is built into every brief. When a brand briefs your space, the agency receives your exact spec plus your reference files (spec sheet, dieline, example output).
• Feedback goes back to the spec. If an agency spots a problem ("the real bleed is 5 mm, not 3"), the note sits on the touchpoint and improves it for everyone.
• Files checked on arrival. Deliveries are checked against your published size, bleed and colour before they reach your team.