The Nordic media powerhouse Schibsted May Have Missed One of the Most Trusted Media Channels in Its Trust Report: The Physical Store

The Nordic media powerhouse Schibsted, spanning news, marketplaces & digital media have released their Trust Report 2026. And it is an important report. It highlights one of the most critical issues in marketing today. Trust.

In a media landscape shaped by disinformation, AI-generated content, fake advertising and declining trust in social platforms, the question of where a message appears has become just as important as the message itself.

Perhaps the report’s most important conclusion is that communication never starts from zero. It starts from a baseline level of trust or skepticism towards the environment in which the message is delivered.

That is an essential insight for everyone working in marketing, communications and media buying.

But precisely for that reason, it is surprising that Schibsted completely leaves out one of today’s most interesting commercial media environments: the physical store.

Because if trust is decisive for advertising effectiveness, the store should be an obvious part of the analysis.

The physical store is not just a place of sale. It is a place where the customer is already present with a need, an intention or a sense of curiosity. The product is there. The sender is clear. The context is relevant. And in many cases, knowledgeable staff are nearby to answer questions, provide advice and strengthen the relationship.

It is hard to imagine a more concrete form of commercial trust than that.

In social media, consumers are exposed to messages in a feed where senders, content and intentions are often mixed together. Advertising, entertainment, opinions, AI-generated material and sometimes outright misleading content all compete for the same attention.

In the store, the situation is the opposite.

There, the customer is already in a context built around inspiration, need, guidance and purchase. A commercial message can therefore be perceived less as an interruption and more as relevant information, guidance or inspiration close to the decision.

That is exactly what makes the store so interesting as a media channel.

When Schibsted shows that trust varies significantly between different media environments, the next question should be obvious: how does the physical store perform as an advertising environment?

We believe the answer would surprise many.

More and more people are now talking about the physical store as one of the market’s most underestimated media channels. This is no coincidence. Retail media is growing rapidly in digital channels, and now retail media in physical stores is also beginning to gain momentum. This is not just about new screens or new surfaces. It is about advertisers seeking environments where their brands can appear with higher relevance, greater credibility and closer to the purchase decision.

This is where advertisers should think much more carefully about the environments they actually want their brands to be associated with.

Are all reach points equally valuable? Of course not.

An exposure in a low-trust feed is not the same as a contact in a store that the customer has actively chosen to enter, where the product is nearby and where the context is commercially relevant.

This is where many retailers still think too narrowly. They see the store as a sales channel, but not as a media channel. They sell surfaces, but not audiences. They talk about digital screens, but not about actual contacts. They talk about campaign spaces, but not about data-driven communication close to the moment of purchase.

That does not mean stores should be filled with more advertising. Quite the opposite. If that happens, retail risks destroying the very trust that makes the store strong. Retail media in physical stores must enhance the customer journey, not disrupt it. The message must be relevant, well-timed and adapted to the situation.

But when done right, the value can be significant for all parties.

The customer receives more relevant information. The advertiser gains access to a trusted environment close to the purchase decision. The retailer creates a new revenue stream in an industry where margins are under severe pressure.

That is why it is remarkable that the store is so often absent when the industry discusses trust, media effectiveness and the advertising environments of the future.

Schibsted is absolutely right that trust is business-critical. But if we truly want to understand how trust affects advertising effectiveness, the physical store should be an obvious part of the analysis.

Because when media context determines how a message is received, the store may be one of the strongest commercial contexts we have.

It is time to stop seeing physical retail solely as a place where purchases happen.

The store is also a media channel.

And perhaps one of the most underestimated in the entire market.

Christian Bönnelyche
Senior Advisor, BizLab

Michael Lemner
Board Member, BizLab