Why Retail Media Success Depends on Alignment, Collaboration
Tech stacks aren't the hard part of retail media success. Alignment is.
That was the key takeaway on Feb. 10 from Retail Media Summit Canada's closing session, "Organizational Alignment for Retail Media Success," moderated by Cyndi Loza, Path to Purchase Institute senior editor.
Two in-house digital leaders — Vidya Jagannathan, digital marketing manager at Newell Brands; and Matthew Maruscak, senior team lead, Amazon and e-commerce capabilities, at Kenvue Canada, maker of brands including Tylenol — said success requires deliberate decisions about how teams are structured and how they collaborate.
"E-commerce is a very interesting and really rewarding part of the business, because you're at the middle of a lot of different cross-functional teams," said Maruscak. "There's a lot of opportunity for issues to arise with alignment."
Regular communication helps mitigate that risk. "What I've found with e-commerce specifically is that a lot of times we're putting the tires on the car while we're driving down the highway," he said. "It’'s important to have a strategy that aligns everyone — that everybody has a shared objective and view of what success looks like — and to make sure we're constantly striving for that success."
Jagannathan oversees retail media strategy across brands ranging from permanent marker brand Sharpie to camping gear brand Coleman. Given the diversity of the portfolio and customer segments, e-commerce sits within a center-of-excellence structure — a setup she compares to a double-edged sword.
The benefit, she said, is "sharing learnings and best practices across the segment marketing teams." The drawback is that the function "is very tightly stretched since there are a lot of brands, so sometimes the learning can be limited."
Budget structure is another critical piece. At Kenvue, there is a dedicated retail media budget alongside shopper and e-commerce funds “that we also leverage,” said Maruscak. “Funding sometimes can be complex, and there can be a lot of different sources. But what’s really important is to understand what those sources are at the very start of the year, so you can build a strong plan and have the success you’re trying to achieve.”
At Newell Brands, retail media now sits as a distinct line item within the brand P&L. “It’s not an afterthought. It’s a key pillar,” Jagannathan said, noting that securing that position required significant internal advocacy.
Today, retail media is embedded in innovation plans, go-to-market strategies and joint business planning with retail media networks.
Still, alignment can weaken as strategies move from the executive level to the front line. For all the focus on the tech stack, Jagannathan said “there is a huge power in the human stack.” Where it can break down is in what she called the “goal gap.”
“Sales teams are always chasing volume, which they should be," she said. "The retail media teams are worrying about efficiency — ‘What’s my conversion? What’s my incrementality?’ Brand marketing teams are pushing awareness. But if we are not all shooting for the same north star, there is a disconnect and the alignment weakens.”
For Maruscak, maintaining a consistent cadence is key. “It’s really important for us to meet as a team. We have quarterly sessions where we go into what’s working, what’s not working,” he said.
Adaptability, he added, remains essential. “I’ve been working in e-commerce for eight years, five years at the leadership level, and I still don’t feel like I’ve got it figured out. I feel that I’m still building my skills and still learning.”
