2022 Women of Excellence, Executive of the Year
Amy Lanzi
Chief Operating Officer
Publicis Commerce
Amy Lanzi has a passion for innovation along with a commitment to transform the commerce space. As chief operating officer at Publicis Commerce, she is at the helm of an agency of more than 10,000 commerce experts worldwide.
She thrives on connecting commerce practitioners across the Publicis Groupe network and finding new ways of working that drive maximum client outcomes. By accelerating Publicis’ commerce product and capabilities to enable “Power of One” client-centric solutions, she also delivers high-performance strategies for the organization’s largest clients.
Lanzi joined Publicis in January 2020, and that same year launched a Commerce Advisory Board that has more than 20 client members across 19 brands. Her vision was to create a connected commerce community where members can test, learn and share. It has proven to be a successful forum, with valued partners sharing relevant product updates, research and new insights. It’s an effective way for Lanzi and her team to better understand how they can help their clients continually deliver modern commerce experiences for their consumers.
The driving force in two of Publicis Groupe’s most notable acquisitions, Lanzi spearheaded the acquisition of SaaS global e-commerce intelligence platform Profitero, as well as CitrusAd, which in combination with Epsilon’s CORE ID created the first retail media offering based on identity. The latter also enabled this year’s launch of the industry’s first unified on-site and off-site retail media platform — CitrusAd, powered by Epsilon.
Lanzi says the platform allows Publicis Groupe to lead a new generation of identity-led media networks, with a full funnel and integrated approach. “The combination of CitrusAd with Epsilon’s existing retail media network creates the only holistic one-stop shop that combines best-in-class, on-site, off-site and in-store advertising data,” she says. “Retailers achieve scale and outcomes, brands exceed performance expectations and build trust, and consumers enjoy personalized experiences.”
Lanzi also led some of the agency’s largest new business wins, including AB InBev, Walmart, Unilever and others, and was a key driver behind its strategic partnership with TikTok. As TikTok’s founding commerce agency partner, Publicis provides clients with early access to test new commerce products, capabilities and creative solutions on the platform, as well as engage in exclusive or first-to-market research or training opportunities.
Publicis Groupe is an early alpha tester of Kroger’s Private Marketplace, with Lanzi’s help, which enables clients to activate campaigns with greater addressability across platforms. “Kroger’s Private Marketplace allows agencies and brands to better reach consumers by applying Kroger’s unique audience data — inclusive of in-store and loyalty data — to programmatic campaigns within their preferred ad-buying platform,” she says. “Kroger’s existing scale gives marketers a flexible solution to tap into their robust first-party data, reduce ad waste and optimize their performance against actual retail sales.”
Lanzi has spearheaded proprietary research on the topics of social commerce and the role augmented reality plays in the shopping experience. More recently, she oversaw the release of Publicis Media and Twitter’s latest study exploring the power of brand social conversations, and their role as the “new review,” with 92% of respondents saying they actively seek out comments about brands, products or services on social media.
Prior to Publicis, Lanzi spent more than 20 years at Omnicom’s retail marketing agency, TPN. As one of its original employees, she helped it grow from a team of 30 to 350 and expanded its presence to include offices in Chicago, San Francisco, London and Bentonville, Arkansas.