Volta’s new charge: how Shell-backed EV screens are turning retail media on its head

2025-05-01T15:41:00Z

The Drum caught up with Mike Schott of Volta Media at Possible to talk about screens, shopper psychology and why digital out-of-home still needs to prove it is worth more than 3% of the media pie. Volta’s screens were once best known as free charging stations…

The Drum caught up with Mike Schott of Volta Media at Possible to talk about screens, shopper psychology and why digital out-of-home still needs to prove it is worth more than 3% of the media pie.

Volta’s screens were once best known as free charging stations for electric vehicles – a kind of eco-conscious goodwill gesture for early adopters. Now, with Shell in the driving seat and EV behavior evolving fast, the business is entering a new phase: users are paying to plug in and Volta is ramping up its ambition to be the go-to outdoor retail media network.

We caught up with Mike Schott, EVP of media at Volta, at Possible in Miami, where he told us: “Volta started with a pretty straightforward model – seven-foot-tall digital screens placed directly outside key retail locations like Whole Foods. The idea was simple: while drivers charged their cars, they and everyone else walking past would see full-screen video ads at the exact moment they were in buying mode.”

Schott says they’ve been disciplined from day one about location. “If we can’t put the screen directly on the pedestrian path to the store, we pass. It’s that discipline that’s given us better visibility and stronger results – now backed by partners like Lumen, which has found our attention metrics are multiples higher than other digital out-of-home placements.”

And those metrics matter. Schott’s background is in digital media, which explains why he’s spent years dragging digital-style measurement into a space that has historically lagged behind.

“When we started, every campaign we got was a test budget. So we took that literally. We measured everything – brand lift, sales, footfall. Now, we’ve taken that one step further. We’re offering performance guarantees.”

Want to go deeper? Ask The Drum

Guaranteed results?

Volta’s newly launched proposition is called ‘No Risk, All Reward.’ The idea is that you run a campaign and it’ll guarantee results – not just top-of-funnel awareness, but bottom-of-funnel sales impact.

“We quickly learned that CPG brands don’t just want return on ad spend. They want incremental return – people who weren’t going to buy the product now doing so. We’re using third-party loyalty card data to prove it.”

It’s a bold move in a space where a lot of retail media spend is still driven by hype over hard proof. “There’s so much buzz around retail media, but some brands are starting to question whether they’re really seeing results. That’s where we come in – with guarantees.”

A screen is a screen (even if it’s next to a charging port)

Crucially, Schott is keen to move beyond what he sees as a common misconception – that Volta’s ads only target EV drivers.

“That’s been a point of frustration. People think it’s just the person charging their car. In reality, they’re only a sliver of our audience. These units are placed right outside busy stores, malls, stadiums. Anyone walking past is part of the audience.”

One CPG marketer gave him a line that now features in Volta’s pitch decks: “It’s like having an endcap outside the front door.” That, says Schott, sums it up.

EV shifts, Shell synergy

Of course, none of this media talk makes sense without understanding what’s happening in EV land. Volta, now owned by Shell, is also in the business of building out America’s charging network.

It started with level 2 chargers and a “free to use” model. That’s changing fast. “Consumers now expect to pay for a charge. Especially with DC fast charging, which is where we’re heading. That’s the model: paid, quick and convenient.”

The challenge? Matching charging speed with user behaviour. “A Starbucks visit might be five minutes. A grocery shop is longer. A movie or a stadium event? You’re parked for hours. We try to align the charging experience with that.”

He’s quick to add that advertising revenue still underpins the model and the ambition is to grow both sides together.

What marketers can learn

Volta now boasts 7,200 screens and 1.7bn monthly impressions, with sights set on 10,000 units and beyond. But Schott says the real growth will come from making digital out-of-home an integral part of the omnichannel media mix.

“It’s still only 3% of total ad spend. If we want to see that increase, we need to prove it’s measurable, quantifiable and repeatable.”

He’s bullish about what that means: “Digital out-of-home gives you all the upper funnel stuff – awareness, recall – but now, we can also measure incremental sales and guarantee ROI. That’s full-funnel impact with no risk. That’s a game changer.”

So, what can marketers learn? If you treat outdoor like digital, measure like digital and plan like digital, it starts to earn a proper seat at the media table. Or, as Schott might prefer to frame it: “We’re bringing the digital campaign to the real world. It’s taken years, but we’re finally able to say this isn’t just a cool screen next to a charger. It’s a serious part of your media plan. And we’ll prove it.”

Read full article

Auto-posted from news source