Meet the 2025 Retail Media Award Winners

The Path to Purchase Institute’s Retail Media Awards program recognizes innovative leaders across brands, retailers, agencies and solution providers who are effectively leveraging (or helping others leverage) retail media for successful digital and omnichannel campaigns.After combing through a plethora of nominations, the editors of P2PI for the third straight year selected 25 commerce marketers who are pioneering and advancing retail media. The 2025 winners were honored in a May 7 ceremony at the P2PI Retail Media Summit in Rosemont, Illinois, that was sponsored by Walgreens Advertising Group. Read on to get to know the commerce marketers who are making an impact at their companies and across the industry. Michael AltierSenior Partner ManagerWalmartAs senior partner manager at Walmart Connect since November 2023, Michael Altier has been instrumental in leading the development, execution and optimization of omnichannel shopper marketing programs. Unilever’s Beauty & Wellbeing team, in partnership with Walmart and Walmart Connect, launched “Your Style Made Simple” in late 2023, with multiple ongoing refreshes throughout 2024 and into 2025. This first-to-market program was a full-funnel, customer-first activation that delivered personalized product recommendations based on a consumer's hair care needs and style goals. Altier says that with a media strategy rooted in current hair care insights, the teams were able to reach shoppers on-site, in-app, in-store and across the entire digital ecosystem with bespoke creative tailored to their needs. Working collaboratively in a clean room environment, they were able to match first-party data sets from Unilever and Walmart to deliver the personalized creative across CTV, display, audio and social. The teams’ efforts continue to bring in new-to-brand buyers, and purchasers are more inclined to cross-shop brands and purchase more frequently. Altier points to his cross-functional work in identifying and uncovering business challenges and addressing those needs with solutions rooted in Walmart Connect's best-in-class data, insights and measurement products to help drive desired business outcomes.The next big trend in retail media is: Full-funnel solutions to enhance performance.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Leveraging national media investments through Walmart Connect.The future of retail media is: Expanding clean rooms and AI-driven segmentation. Vai Anand Senior Director, Decision Science & AnalyticsDollar GeneralVai Anand leads data science, customer insights and analytics across all of Dollar General’s marketing, from digital to personalization to the retailer’s retail media network. His team has ongoing data studies to find ways of ensuring that the Dollar General mission — serving the underserved — is always at the forefront of its analysis. The team works to provide accurate returns on CPG investment, map the maximum amount of online exposure back to the individual customer level at DG’s brick-and-mortar locations and provide closed-loop reporting. This year he spearheaded initiatives that increased the offline transaction match rate to customers and to the internal DG goal over three years while reducing exposure loss between online impressions and offline customer transaction matches to maximize closed-loop reporting. He and his team also established industry-leading standards for accurately assessing campaign impact on in-store conversions, aligning with Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) benchmarks that benefit both enterprise marketing and retail media marketing endeavors. Anand championed the implementation of randomized control trials to statistically measure and validate the factors driving incremental sales at the retailer for retail media network campaigns, including in-store audio, which provide CPGs with valuable insights into closed-loop incremental sales. The team also played a crucial role in launching combined DoorDash and Dollar General retail media campaigns, establishing a robust process for providing comprehensive closed-loop reporting, which included effectively mapping online exposure to both in-store sales and DoorDash sales, and delivering valuable data-driven insights to CPG partners.The next big trend in retail media is: Expanding audience reach through data collaboration.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Achieving consistent and comparable measurement.The future of retail media is: Streamlining and consolidation driven by brand needs. John Andrysiak Director, Retail MediaHarvest GroupJohn Andrysiak has been integral in bringing to life several client success stories since he joined Harvest Group in March of last year. For one client, a condiment brand, he and his team designed and implemented a first-of-its-kind integrated annual planning approach, connecting media strategy directly with sales objectives. They developed a robust, holistic plan that helped set an improved standard for integrated media and sales planning at Harvest. For another client, a protein snacks brand, the team was initially awarded only search media management, but Andrysiak’s strategic vision expanded the client relationship after he communicated the value of full-funnel media to the brand’s executive leadership. Aligning retail media with distribution growth for a sustainable cleaning brand, he supported a significant increase in media budgets to fuel retail expansion, and also developed media strategies that played a key role in expanding the brand’s national retail shelf presence. His recent work has reinforced Harvest’s ability to tie retail media investment to in-store success. With career experience at Amazon and Criteo, Andrysiak’s expertise translates into managing stronger platform partnerships, refined media strategies, and a deep understanding of how to bridge the gap between platform capabilities and client needs. Further, this has helped him anticipate challenges, navigate complexities and identify strategic opportunities that drive meaningful results for brands.The next big trend in retail media is: In-store opportunities (digital signage, audio).The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Streaming TV activations using first-party retailer data.The future of retail media is: Measuring incrementality over channel switching. Sarah BruischatSenior Manager, Meijer Media Strategy and OperationsMeijerSarah Bruischat is a 14-year veteran at Meijer, having assumed her current post just more than two years ago. This past year, she led her team in refining attribution methodology, piloting an incrementality measurement approach, and ensuring alignment with IAB standards. She also oversaw the development of standardized reporting processes and dashboards, streamlining data access and enabling more informed decision-making across teams. Bruischat’s leadership in media planning resulted in successfully transitioning the function in-house, building the necessary infrastructure, processes and training to support the shift. By bringing media planning under internal control, she enabled greater strategic alignment, increased efficiency and improved collaboration across teams. Under her leadership, the team implemented a structured test-and-learn process and developed seasonal audience insights, enabling more data-driven decision-making. Bruischat has also led the in-housing of various marketing materials and in-store communication, implemented an order management system as well as a digital asset management system, and refined co-marketing and billing processes. These initiatives increased efficiency, accuracy and scalability across the organization. She has also led her team in expanding capabilities through key partnerships, driving the launch of new ad channels, initiating platform testing and developing new ad formats to unlock additional revenue opportunities. Bruischat has played a pivotal role in advancing retail media, guiding her team to drive innovation across analytics, media planning, operations and ad product development. She has empowered teams to enhance measurement capabilities, improve operational efficiencies and expand advertising opportunities, contributing to sustained growth.The next big trend in retail media is: Evolved targeting and deeper insights scaled via AI.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Incrementality measurement.The future of retail media is: Collaboration, scale, data-driven. Tammy BrumfieldVice President, Commerce Media-Customer ExcellenceAdvantage Unified CommerceOver the past year, Tammy Brumfield has successfully led strategic management for several large key clients, ensuring retailer growth strategies and execution across all initiatives. Her work included the launch of Advantage Unified Commerce’s new Commerce Media Customer Excellence practice, which is focused on building effective strategies and ways of working to enhance client performance. Through strong cross-functional engagement and seamless collaboration, Brumfield drove external partnerships with brands, sales, retailers, their retail media networks and third-party partners, ensuring alignment and integration across all areas to deliver mutually beneficial and measurable growth and success. These efforts have elevated both client satisfaction and internal capabilities. The team’s work led to retail media success by driving the evolution of how clients engage with retail media networks and their broader ecosystem. By launching the Commerce Media Customer Excellence practice, the agency provided clients with comprehensive, retail-back strategies that leveraged RMN and third-party integrations more effectively, leading to improved targeting, personalization and overall campaign performance. Cross-functional collaboration with the Commerce Media and Commerce Strategy COE enabled the seamless execution of complex projects, resulting in stronger partnerships between brands, retailers and media partners. Ultimately, these efforts contributed to enhanced media performance, greater ROI and a more sophisticated, scalable approach to retail media. She and her team plan to tackle performance analytics next, working with cross-functional experts to prove out this winning strategy.The next big trend in retail media is: AI-driven personalization, integration and measurement.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Social commerce and shoppable media.The future of retail media is: AI-driven personalization and measurement. Jennifer Bryce Head of Retail Media Investment & Partnerships, U.S.UnileverJennifer Bryce led a commercial partnership that contributed to Unilever winning the CVS Media Exchange 2024 Partner of the Year award. A seven-year veteran of Unilever, she assumed her current post in September 2022. This past year, she also owned negotiations for nine U.S. retail media joint business plans, resulting in best-in-class partnership benefits and positioning Unilever to win at retail by delivering 2024 dot-com goals. Bryce hosted the North America Marketing Forum for Unilever on “The Future of Commerce and Retail Media” to inspire and upskill the organization. She also worked to promote transparency and spearhead the shift to driving significant efficiencies and savings across media and audience data fees from self-serve programmatic investments. She was named Unilever’s Retail Media Star of the Year in 2024 for driving excellence and gold standards in retail media. Her work in collaborating with retail media partners to accelerate growth across the Unilever enterprise led to 82% of partners moving to "advanced maturity" — compared to 9% two years ago. Additionally, in partnership with GroupM, she created a 12-course custom learning experience to enhance knowledge and retail media expertise of Unilever marketing and customer teams. She represents Unilever at various retail media network client councils, serves on Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and IAB industry committees, and is a co-chair of the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) Shopper and Retail Media Committee.The next big trend in retail media is: Using AI to create more personalization and relevance.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Connecting full-funnel capabilities of in-store, online and cross-channel to truly reach consumers at multiple touchpoints along their purchase journey.The future of retail media is: Fully converging to improve end-to-end media effectiveness with true holistic ROI measurement across all channels. Courtney DonohueSenior Omni Activation ManagerDanone North AmericaCourtney Donohue has spent nearly eight years at Danone, assuming her current post in October 2023. Her work with the category team at Kroger, as well as with Kroger Precision Marketing and Danone’s cross-functional team, resulted in significant launches for both Remix yogurt mix-ins and International Delight cold foam creamer at Kroger. Danone’s robust “360 omnichannel marketing plan” also resulted in KPM coining International Delight cold foam creamer as a “Best in Class Innovation Launch” and now using the launch as a playbook for future innovation. That launch included a combination of pre-launch off-site and on-site media to generate excitement for the new product entering the market. The campaign featured always-on search and targeted on-site display ads, as well as targeted digital coupons and pickup/delivery-only offers. These efforts resulted in an 11% digital penetration within the first eight weeks, matching the commodity average. Additionally, the digital merchandising team played a crucial role by incrementally boosting search and cross-sell carousels early in the launch. The cross-functional support from all teams helped to drive success.The next big trend in retail media is: Further AI integration.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Seamlessly integrating with in-store activation.The future of retail media is: Unique and meaningful off-site partnerships. Roger Dunn Global Retail Media LeadDiageoIn 2024, Roger Dunn assumed leadership of the worldwide retail media program at Diageo. Since joining the company, he has been operationalizing a comprehensive program of best-practice initiatives, including investment guidelines, guidance on roles and responsibilities, driving global media and data joint business plans, maximizing retailer data, and ensuring effective measurement. He also created and drove the retail media pilot program in order to scale successes across global markets and hubs, and established the retail media channel and community within the Diageo Global Media Community. Dunn is a founding member of the IAB Retail Media Committee and active member of the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) Retail Media Taskforce. In these roles, he has had the opportunity to spearhead and unlock industry collaboration. Leadership of industry body initiatives has delivered meaningful progress in creating industry standards and education programs, contributing to the growth and maturity of this space. He is also an industry evangelist, sharing regular insights with the retail media community as well as his experiences as a mentor. He has been recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice for retail media and a Rethink Retail Top Retail Expert for 2024 and 2025. Additionally, he is the current REmade Retail Media Leader of the Year.The next big trend in retail media is: The RMN takeover ... every shelf, every screen!The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: It’s not a case of whether AI will power retail media networks, but where they will take it to next. AI will drive all aspects of a campaign from targeting, optimization and reporting through to creative ideation and development.The future of retail media is: To be the invisible hand of modern commerce. Matt Elsley CEO & Co-FounderQsicMatt Elsley led a $25 million Series B funding raise to support the expansion of Qsic’s AI-powered in-store audio platform into new retail locations, accelerate product development and scale its sales team. Serving as CEO, he also guided the expansion of its partnership with 7-Eleven, which will bring Gulp Radio to more than 12,000 locations by the end of 2025. Qsic achieved 220% year-over-year growth in 2024, and Elsley managed the opening of a new office in Dallas to expand the company’s presence in North America. He also collaborated with partners to achieve an average 14% sales lift, demonstrating the powerful impact of AI-powered in-store retail media on driving consumer engagement and sales. Elsley continues to focus on proving the effectiveness and scalability of in-store retail media. Qsic was built to address the challenges retail media has faced, including high costs to implement, measurement challenges and difficulty scaling, aiming to lower the barrier of entry with a simple setup designed to scale with advanced measurement capabilities and automated planning tools. Over the past year, Qsic has demonstrated that in-store retail media can scale effectively, expanding its reach to more than 12,000 stores while delivering measurable impact for retailers and brands.The next big trend in retail media is: Audio. As brands and retailers seek more effective, scalable ways to influence purchase decisions, AI-powered in-store audio will play a major role in the future of retail media. The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: GenAI is unlocking a new level of personalization.The future of retail media is: As consumer shopping behavior increasingly blends online and in-store, brands want a more omnichannel approach that extends online campaigns into the in-store experience. Measurement will continue to be a top priority. Budgets are under more scrutiny, so advertisers need the ability to evaluate campaign performance quickly post-execution to better understand sales impact, brand lift, etc. Toby Espinosa Vice President of AdsDoorDashToby Espinosa established DoorDash’s ads business unit in 2021 and has been leading it ever since. This past year he was charged with increasing advertising offerings to enable brands to better connect with consumers looking to purchase and enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly. That includes sponsored products for alcohol, occasion-branded and co-marketing campaigns, and sponsored brands for alcohol. He also led the launch of Ads Manager for Enterprise Restaurants, a platform with self-serve tools and reporting capabilities to help businesses run campaigns and thrive with their partners. Espinosa has forged several strategic partnerships to give brands more options to manage campaigns that reach high-intent customers on-platform and outside the DoorDash ecosystem, including recent partnerships with MikMak and Skai. Earlier this year, he secured a new partnership with The Trade Desk. By combining DoorDash’s consumer insights with The Trade Desk’s programmatic technology, the partnership sets a new standard for retail media, enabling brands to connect with audiences in ways that drive meaningful results. Espinosa is also credited with leading his team’s investments in off-platform retail media networks, partnering with additional technology platforms like Symbiosys, and using AI to amplify the reach and impact of DoorDash’s advertising ecosystem. Brands can now deliver their ads to the right audience at the right time by leveraging DoorDash’s first-party data and driving those consumers to an immediate purchase occasion, thus enabling closed-loop measurement to demonstrate campaign results.The next big trend in retail media is: CTV for retail media.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Renewed focus on the customer experience using AI.The future of retail media is: Retail media is more than just "media." George Forge Senior Vice President, Technology & Product DevelopmentQuadGeorge Forge spearheaded the launch of In-Store Connect, Quad's in-store retail media network, this past year. He also led the launch of At-Home Connect, the company's omnichannel journey touchpoint solution for automated targeting and retargeting, as well as Audience Builder, the proprietary audience creation solution on top of Quad's proprietary data stack. Forge and his team also advanced multiple AI initiatives and integrations. He says a key focus of his work is expanding the company’s on-site and off-site solutions, and scaling its in-store retail media platform. A 20-year veteran of the company, Forge says Quad has been investing in artificial intelligence for more than a decade, advancing from process automation and machine learning to generative AI. On the client-facing side, AI powers key enhancements across Quad’s creative and media offerings. For creative solutions, the company uses AI to accelerate ideation, generate synthetic models, develop new assets, adapt existing creative and deliver personalized experiences at scale. For its media solutions, its proprietary data stack fuels AI-driven audience segmentation, which Forge and his team pairs with AI-optimized creative for deployment, using real-time analytics and big data to measure and optimize media performance continuously.The next big trend in retail media is: In-store retail media. The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Being able to reach a broader audience compared to the majority of online RMNs through in-store retail media. In-store audiences have an 84% greater reach than digital audiences, which translates to higher engagement levels when consumers are physically present in stores. The future of retail media is: In-store, and enhancing the shopping experience. By strategically placing engaging content and promotions, retailers can effectively drive both foot traffic and sales. Niccolo GloazzoSenior Director of Media and OmnichannelKettle & FireNiccolo Gloazzo spearheaded an integrated campaign during the 2024 Thanksgiving time period that drove new-to-brand customers in Kettle & Fire’s top retail platforms as well as Instacart. The company saw a 90% increase in new-to-brand users on certain platforms, while awareness increased by 7% at the static sign level. Gloazzo says the channel mix used, as well as cohesive messaging across multiple channels, resulted in nearly a double-digit increase in incremental sales in-store. He and his team leveraged a full-funnel omnichannel execution in-store, offline via OOH trucks and digital billboards, video (streaming) and display. The campaign helped the company become the No. 1 bone broth and fastest-growing broth brand in the category. Other important work in the past year includes Gloazzo and his team leveraging platforms such as Instacart and other retail media networks to capitalize on early access/first-to-market opportunities, low CPM/competitions and building future demand early in the journey. The next big trend in retail media is: In-store personalization. More and more placements in-store will become digital, and brands will be able to target users along the physical customer journey as well as online. Retailers noticed they can monetize more of the in-store placements if they make it digital and self-service to brands.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Closed-loop attribution.The future of retail media is: Data sharing for custom audience targeting. Nick HamiltonSenior Vice President, Head of TechnologyKroger Precision Marketing/84.51°Nick Hamilton led the evolution of Kroger’s self-service retail media platform, which empowers brands with Kroger’s purchase data to deliver personalized advertising at scale. Under his leadership, KPM’s in-house ad tech infrastructure has scaled to meet growing demand, delivering solutions that are faster, more reliable and cost-effective for advertisers. He has worked to expand platform capabilities, such as promoted product carousels, and has championed KPM’s incremental measurement capabilities, giving brands unmatched visibility into how their campaigns influence sales, both online and in-store. This precision in measurement allows advertisers to maximize budgets and continuously optimize their strategies. Additionally, Hamilton has led KPM’s advanced measurement capabilities that deliver a unified view of media impact across all channels. He also led the development of proprietary solutions such as PrecisionBid, which uses real-time machine learning to optimize programmatic ad campaigns for meaningful outcomes like sales and household penetration. Hamilton oversees the development of in-house advertising technologies, and his contributions have not only advanced the Kroger Ad Platform, but also set a new standard for innovation in retail media technology.The next big trend in retail media is: Automation — driven by AI — is making retail data easier to analyze and apply across advertising campaigns. With clean room solutions, brands are now able to predict purchase behaviors and optimize their advertising budgets like never before.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: In a world where consumers expect personalization, brands have adopted audience-first planning. Retail data reveals real shopper behaviors, allowing brands to build products and campaigns around exact consumer needs.The future of retail media is: A consumer-first experience driven by technology. AI agents will make shopping easier and faster. The same underlying data science is being applied to make advertising more relevant and inspiring, during the moments that matter most to consumers. Mary Kate Huffman Senior Director, Commerce & Investment StrategyBlue ChipMary Kate Huffman, Blue Chip’s senior director, commerce & investment strategy, has led activations across Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons’ retail media networks, implementing a full-funnel approach that resulted in a strong sales lift for a significant CPG client. The campaign included retail media, in-store signage, incentives, paid social, shoppable media and a co-branded partnership that was successful at increasing sales by reaching new households and driving new-to-brand conversions. She also crafted a data-driven retail media investment strategy for another client’s first shopper loyalty program, which included paid social, CTV, display, on-pack and point-of-sale signage tactics. That strategy successfully drove year-over-year sales growth. She has advanced Blue Chip’s retail media success through her leadership, strategic vision and desire to innovate. Her development of Register, a Blue Chip proprietary tool, has streamlined retailer intelligence and best practices across more than 40 retailers. A consolidation of all of its retailer intelligence, Register includes retailer capabilities, best practices, POVs, best-in-class examples and benchmarks. Fostering strong retailer relationships has enabled Blue Chip to access exclusive beta opportunities, allowing it to test new retailer capabilities and get access to unique placements and audiences to drive better results and garner learnings for brands. From this, the team has also developed robust learning agendas and access to custom or additional reports to provide insights and tell a deeper story on campaign impact. Huffman was promoted to her current role in April.The next big trend in retail media is: In-store media. For retail media networks to continue to expand, they must develop strategies to effectively monetize in-store shoppers.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Expansion of measurement capabilities.The future of retail media is: Increased integration across the purchase funnel. Kathryn Mazza Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer; President, RedMediaHy-Vee Inc.At the helm of RedMedia since January, Kathryn Mazza and her team have continued to advance its omnichannel strategy with a strong focus on its in-store retail media offerings, ranging from digital displays and audio to product displays, custom graphics and more. She says what differentiates RedMedia is its broad offerings, capabilities and focus on innovation. The company’s internal operating model allows its endemic partners to maximize their return on investments across Hy-Vee as a whole. RedMedia recently teamed up with Grocery TV to power more than 10,000 screens across Hy-Vee’s 400 retail locations. The TV screens allow brand partners to purchase ad space through The Trade Desk and reach consumers near the point of purchase with relevant, timely content. Each screen is strategically placed at key touchpoints, from store entrances and checkout to service departments, aisles and endcaps. RedMedia was also the first to market with an audience targeting platform created by Dentsu called Hy-Vee ID, which allows brand partners to precisely target their messaging to customer audience segments by leveraging first-party data to boost conversion and sales, as well as provide even deeper consumer insights.The next big trend in retail media is: Connecting the in-store experience with the digital customer journey. The networks offering seamless customer-centric messaging across online and in-store are poised to win in this space. The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Leveraging machine learning to optimize performance and drive operational efficiencies. New and exciting technology platforms entering the space also help retailers act as best-in-class media agencies, driving superior performance across all media tactics. The future of retail media is: Measurable omnichannel solutions that expedite retail media network spend as a meaningful percentage of advertisers’ media mix. Molly McFarlandChief Revenue Officer and Co-FounderAdAdaptedMolly McFarland has been at the helm of AdAdapted since she co-founded the mobile ad platform in 2012. This past year, she led the company’s partnership with Gopuff, showcasing how off-site media can drive real sales. In July 2024, the partners launched a campaign for General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch using AdAdapted’s Add-It technology. They delivered a double-digit sales lift for Cinnamon Toast Crunch, with a 100% post-click cart transfer rate and zero technical failures, in addition to a 20-times improvement over the industry’s average cart transfer rate. Click-through rates were 128% higher than broad audience targeting. McFarland says the campaign demonstrated the power of intent-driven advertising and validated AdAdapted’s model of turning consumer engagement into measurable conversion. She has also played a key role in bringing AdAdapted’s technology to leading retail media networks. The company has successfully integrated with major grocery retailers such as Albertsons, where the Add-It solution allows shoppers to save branded products directly to their retailer shopping lists or carts. This expansion has provided retailers with new monetization opportunities, while offering a more effective path to purchase. She is proud of her work in bridging the longstanding challenge of converting digital engagement into in-store sales. AdAdapted’s solution ensures brands can reach shoppers not just when they’re browsing, but when they’re actively planning their purchases. The next big trend in retail media is: The growth of off-site retail media inventory.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Increased conversion rates and ROIs of off-site media.The future of retail media is: Dependent on converting consumers from off-site. Shawn McGahee Head of Retail MediaGoogleShawn McGahee, the head of retail media at Google for more than three years, leads a team that partners with retail media networks, helping them leverage Google's media inventory and technology to drive growth. Under his leadership, Google has made significant strides in supporting the growth of retail media networks. He has been a key advocate for changes in Google's technology and platforms to better serve the needs of these networks, including the development of managed and self-service solutions, flexible buying options, improved performance transparency and new measurement solutions. Work this year included programs for Google Shopping and Instacart; YouTube and Instacart; Albertsons Collective TV; and Google Search Ads 360 Retail Media Solutions. With people shopping on Google 1 billion times a day, he says his team works to bring the scale and relevance of shoppers on search and YouTube to the retail media industry, growing their scale and performance for themselves and participating brands. He points to his work showing the incremental sales impact of adding Google Search and YouTube to off-site retail media activations, noting that Google search and shopping reaches in-market audiences primarily before they have chosen a brand or a retailer. Google is where decisions are made, he says, and converting in-market shoppers brings incremental sales and audiences to retail media campaigns. McGahee is also a mentor across Google and the industry, being a champion for talent development, recognition and raising the overall knowledge and thinking in the space.The next big trend in retail media is: AI-enabled creative at scale.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Google Shopping and YouTube driving iROAS.The future of retail media is: More performant, less fragmented, clear results. Elizabeth Perryman Head of Marketing & Partner ExperienceAlbertsons Media CollectiveIn 2024, Elizabeth Perryman oversaw the optimization and deployment of internal and external vehicles of communication for Albertsons Media Collective. Designed to amplify the company’s thought leadership, product launches and enhancements, those vehicles also extend reach with partners and brands. Her leadership during time-sensitive launches was pointed to by her peers as the driver of cross-functional and multi-business success. Perryman led efforts for the announcement and marketing development of more than 10 new retail media products, including Collective TV, Albertsons Media Collective’s connected television offering that features partnerships with NBCUniversal, Roku and YouTube. Additionally, she helped ensure partners leveraged not only the countless capability optimizations but also business partnerships dedicated to mutual growth and reach. Perryman was instrumental in creating a platform for the export of Albertsons Media Collective’s subject matter experts to share their extensive thought-leadership. The stage (virtual and physical) garnered a media coverage reach of more than 664 million, an increase of 11% year over year, and nearly doubled the Collective’s earned media reach. In her current post since November 2022, she also created the first Growth Marketing team in the history of Albertsons Cos. — an initiative that included leading the design and construction of pillars and frameworks for demand generation, sales enablement and learning and development. Further, her work to evolve “The Garage” into a podcast series gained international recognition from TikTok, Meta and Google while being named one of BizBash’s, “Exceptional Branded Spaces” at the Cannes Lions Festival two years in a row.The next big trend in retail media is: More meaningful metrics for brands.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: In-store content that connects to online.The future of retail media is: Full retail solutions, not just media. Gretchen ReisnerDirector, Client Insights & StrategyCVS Media ExchangeGretchen Reisner joined CVS Media Exchange (CMX) in November 2023 and has since led the rollout of CMX Attributed Sales Standardization. She participated in the IAB’s retail media measurement standards released in January 2024, and not only was CMX the first health and wellness retailer to adopt the standards, it was also the first to attribute its sales to viewable impressions. The company also follows best practices regarding data, audiences and transparency, giving its suppliers confidence in measurement and reporting. Reisner says it’s important for all key retail industry stakeholders to continue to participate in guidelines/standards conversations to drive alignment throughout the industry to further the growth of retail media. In the past year she also helped launch CMX iROAS measurement, and is driving CMX transparency in reporting and measurement, advising on the updates for the CMX supplier-facing performance dashboard. She has been a vocal proponent of retail media reporting and measurement transparency, participating in a webinar with Mars United Commerce and IAB this past November, and continues to advise and deliver on the next evolution of in-store retail media measurement.The next big trend in retail media is: In-store media is one of the last moments to reach shoppers and impact their category and brand purchases, driving brand preference and building baskets.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Understanding the lifetime value of brand shoppers by retailer level to help suppliers understand the nuances of the brand buyers at the various retailers and inform their overall strategy.The future of retail media is: Holistic reporting of merchandising, promotions and retail media. Joshua RosenDirector, Connected CommerceChurch & DwightOver the past year, Joshua Rosen has focused on leveraging new retail media frameworks and measurement strategies to drive new item launches and exceed expectations across Arm & Hammer, Batiste and TheraBreath. Launching new items in e-commerce is a challenge, he notes, since they start at the “back of the line” in search and advertising strategies have to work hard to create digital discovery for the consumer. As director of connected commerce for more than three years, he also works to empower his team with autonomy to appropriately translate retail media strategy and optimizations against brand goals. Since retail media is the translation of the brand strategy through a retailer’s media network/platform, it requires a synergy of retailer/platform knowledge, brand knowledge and sales knowledge. Rosen is driven by bringing together the right processes, feedback loops and systems so that the real work can happen at the brand level rather than be homogenized into overarching best practices.The next big trend in retail media is: Incrementality measurement.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Creative and audience insights. They can bring insights that go beyond the retail media platform into broader brand strategy by giving granular closed-loop reads at an audience and creative level. There’s a large focus on what media does for the retailer today, instead of the granular data available as part of a holistic activation and learning plan.The future of retail media is: Hands off the wheel. Manufacturers that will win need to be comfortable with less human intervention and more empowerment of agencies, tools and systems with the right feedback loops. Ultimately, the future approval may be an automation/AI module versus actual audiences, creative and product priorities. Adam Stave Founder & CEOSwish Brand ExperiencesAs founder and CEO, Adam Stave has been at the helm of Swish for two and a half years. The company officially launched the first-ever programmatic Sponsored Product Sampling platform, which he says not only sets a new industry standard for targeted, measurable and automated product sampling, but is a game changer for retailers, brands and grocery customers. Swish’s platform allows brands to deliver full-size product samples directly into online grocery orders of their most relevant customers using first-party transactional data. It’s fully automated, targeted and measurable, turning traditional sampling into a scalable, ROI-driven marketing channel for retailers and brands. Stave says the company expands retail media by bridging the gap between physical products and digital media, turning sampling into a performance channel. Winning new-to-brand customers with high lifetime value (LTV), Swish drives category adoption (e.g., frozen), boosting retailers’ revenue, brand growth and customer discovery.The next big trend in retail media is: The rise of immersive ad formats and experiential touchpoints that allow customers to connect with brands on a deeper, more emotional level. The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Blending of physical products with digital media, creating a powerful fusion where brands don’t just advertise, they activate. As retail media matures, the platforms that connect digital intent with physical experience will define the next wave of innovation.The future of retail media is: Full-funnel commerce experiences where every touchpoint is personalized, purposeful and seamlessly connected. Kimberly Sugden Senior Marketing ManagerPepsiCoKimberly Sugden directs retail media marketing for PepsiCo’s $2 billion portfolio of iced tea brands Pure Leaf, Lipton and Brisk. She has created and optimized more than 300 campaigns and has seen the company achieve 9.8 billion retail media impressions, increasing incremental sales iROAS by 70% since 2022. Sugden will continue testing and learning with PepsiCo’s retail media network partners as new technology and capabilities unlock. This past year she worked with the company’s design agency to create a new Lipton key visual specifically for retail media that brings to life the dynamism and flavor variety of the brand’s iced teas. The creative launched across several retail media networks, including Walmart’s, tailoring featured flavors for different markets. When Kroger Precision Marketing announced its partnership with The Trade Desk last year, Sugden used the DSP to test and refine PepsiCo’s targeting strategy for Lipton and Brisk with in-depth Kroger shopper data. She was also the first PepsiCo brand to pilot 7-Eleven’s Gulp Media Network in 2024, driving strong incremental sales for Pure Leaf in this important channel. The next big trend in retail media is: iROAS results for creative A/B tests. Right now, there aren’t many retail media networks that give iROAS incremental sales results for the different graphics versions run on media. We want to understand as brand owners which graphic got the best iROAS incremental sales for our product.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Closed-loop incremental sales from all RMNs.The future of retail media is: Personalized, measurable in-aisle digital ads. Rachel Thomas Senior Director of Media SolutionsCompetitive Edge Media & MarketingRachel Thomas joined the agency in April 2024. She and her team leveraged retailer first-party data and existing shopper personas to drive consistent double-digit ROAS for off-site media this past year. Focusing on optimized audience targets to align with brand objectives, such as household penetration and new item trials, and collaborating closely with the broader team, Thomas ensures media targeting and messaging remain consistent across on-site channels. By seamlessly integrating with sponsored search and enhanced product pages, they doubled buyer conversion rates at one client’s leading retailer. Walmart Connect selected Competitive Edge as a partner in its P2C (Path to Conversion) Incremental Alpha Initiative — a measurement solution that provides advertisers with an overview of a customer's shopping journey prior to purchase. It helps the team gather insights by new-to-brand versus existing customers across sponsored search, as well as on-site display and off-site display, all of which informs strategy decisions. The agency has been a key contributor to Costco’s emerging retail media network, and was among the first to activate an alcohol campaign with KPM Direct Connect. The agency also leveraged its seat on The Trade Desk to power retail media network off-site campaigns. Running self-service rather than managed, Thomas and her team provide hands-on-keys attention to detail, increased transparency and advanced optimization for clients, resulting in improved performance and insights gleaned.The next big trend in retail media is: Increased shift to self-service platform options.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Custom audience curation and evolution.The future of retail media is: Full integration of online and in-store experiences. Shock Torem Senior Vice President of Media SolutionsVestcomShock Torem rebranded shelfAdz to become one of the most reliable in-store shopper engagement solutions for both consumer product goods manufacturers and retailers. With significant scale spanning more than 70 retailers across 60,000 stores (including leading retailers such as Kroger, Albertsons, Dollar General and Walgreens), shelfAdz has emerged as a foundational component of the marketing mix for nearly 1,000 brands, driving average incremental brand sales lifts of 20% and an average iROAS of $3.65. Torem believes in media measurement and standardization, and he manages a dedicated analytics team that applies a rigorous test-and-control methodology for measuring the impact of in-store media campaigns, which enables brands and retailers to optimize effective campaign strategies. Over the past year, he has continued to expand the in-store media offerings and national retailer network available to Vestcom’s CPG partners. Forging strategic third-party partnerships with in-store media platforms and digital out-of-home networks, his team can now offer complementary dual-format media programs to maximize reach, impact and cost effectiveness. Vestcom is working to develop its own in-house digital capabilities to unlock new digital in-store media offerings, with the debut of its storeLink platform, enabling centralized management across both digital and print mediums.The next big trend in retail media is: The digitization of in-store shopper engagement.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: The potential of connecting omnichannel shopper engagement with marketing tactics that drive measurable conversion with higher iROAS.The future of retail media is: Evolving to become the most natural destination for brands to shift national media budgets further down the marketing funnel, to where shoppers make actual purchase decisions and media dollars can stretch much further. Katie Vogt Head of Ad Sales & Client SuccessWalgreens Advertising GroupAn eight-year veteran at Walgreens, Katie Vogt assumed her current post just over a year ago and has since focused her efforts on advancing Walgreens Advertising Group's (WAG) self-serve programmatic solution with The Trade Desk. She says this solution allows brands to access Walgreens' first-party data and create custom audiences as well as measure attributed sales in real time, significantly enhancing targeting and measurement capabilities for advertisers. She has also worked to launch on-site display advertising, having led the launch of display advertising in categories such as health & wellness, beauty, personal care and pharmacy. Under her leadership, WAG expanded its social offerings, launching successful programs with Snap and activations on Meta that boost influencer partnerships related to first-party-data Walgreens audiences. She also worked closely with Walgreens' loyalty and enterprise marketing teams to develop personalized, targeted CRM programs, such as sponsored email campaigns for seniors and geo-targeted beauty event promotions. Vogt’s leadership has been pivotal in shaping the strategy and operational framework for WAG’s retail media network, positioning it as a forward-thinking entity in the rapidly evolving retail media landscape. She also spearheaded the launch of WAG’s Rx Advertiser Platform on Meta, signaling the first retail media network to execute a pharmacy ad campaign. The solution is now activated with more than 10 different pharmaceutical advertisers on Facebook and Instagram, significantly expanding the reach of pharma advertising through RMNs.The next big trend in retail media is: In-store digital experiences.The most exciting opportunity in retail media is: Closed-loop measurement and advanced attribution that enables brands to understand how a campaign drove retail and customer impact, specific behaviors and media performance against critical KPIs.The future of retail media is: Full-funnel, omni-channel, attributable solutions.

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