I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Awards programs are one of my favorite things we do here at the Path to Purchase Institute. Showcasing excellence, celebrating the people and brilliant minds changing commerce, spotlighting impressive achievements and sharing those stories with the greater industry at large — it really doesn’t get any better than that. It’s an honor we take both seriously and delightfully.
So, it was with the utmost excitement that we launched a new awards program this year: the Retail Media Awards 2023. Our goal was simple: honor those marketers who are retail media pioneers making impactful change in their companies and in the industry. What wasn’t simple was evaluating the overwhelming onslaught of nominations that was to come. We were blown away by the quality of candidates who were nominated this first year; it was a wonderful reminder of how vastly talented our community of marketers truly is.
And while we wished we could have selected far many more winners who were certainly deserving (the top 173 winners seemed like a bit of overkill), the editorial team was focused on keeping this year’s list of winners at 25. So, we meticulously reviewed entries (and re-reviewed and re-reviewed) until we narrowed it down to this year’s honorees. And wow, what a list of inspiring innovators it is.
From managers, directors and VPs to co-founders and CEOs, the winners of the Path to Purchase Institute’s inaugural Retail Media Awards represent a broad spectrum of industry expertise. Honoring the top 25 commerce marketers pioneering retail media, the awards recognize innovative leaders across brands, retailers, agencies and solutions providers who are effectively leveraging or helping others leverage retail media for successful digital and omnichannel campaigns.
P2PI celebrated this talented group of changemakers in June during our annual Retail Media Summit — at an awards ceremony and reception that gathered the industry’s top influencers and thought leaders for an evening of celebration and networking. And now, in this edition of P2PI Magazine, you can get to know these 25 winners (turn to page 14) and learn more about how each one has made an impressive impact on our industry and the evolving world of retail media.
And speaking of retail media … as we come away from our amazing Retail Media Summit in Chicago, P2PI is taking that momentum and planning some very exciting things on the retail media front for the back half of the year. From continued collaboration with IAB on retail media measurement standards and our Guide to Retail Media Networks (coming out with the September/October issue) to a retail media track of dedicated sessions at P2PI LIVE & Expo in November and more meetings of our Retail Media Guild share group, there are so many ways commerce marketers can get involved and stay ahead of the curve.
With retail media growing so rapidly around the globe and becoming table stakes across numerous market sectors, my bet is by this time next year, the words “retail media” may even become part of everyday vernacular. So, the next time someone asks what you do, and you blurt out, “Retail media!” you just might not get a blank stare.
