Episodes

Retail media has evolved incredibly quickly over the last few years, but the conversation has also become far more financially scrutinized. From your perspective, what phase is the industry actually entering now? A lot of retailers rushed to launch retail media networks, but many are now discovering that building ad inventory is very different from building a scalable media business. What are the biggest structural mistakes you see retailers making today? Brands continue shifting budget into r...

Content has traditionally been treated as a creative output, but increasingly it is being measured like a performance variable. From your perspective, what has fundamentally changed? Many brands produce enormous amounts of creative content but still struggle to understand what actually drives conversion. Where do you think organizations are getting disconnected from the consumer? One thing that stands out right now is the growing pressure to produce more content, across more platforms, at much...

Vinny, the 'Trifecta' measurement strategy isn't a new concept, yet most brands still can't bridge the gap between brand and commerce. In your experience, what is the most essential first step to breaking down those organizational silos and finally unifying measurement?" How are you thinking about short vs. long term ROI when it comes to investing in brand vs commerce media networks? Especially as it relates to onsite and offsite digital media buys with RMNs. What’s your way to assess increment...

What leaders must understand now 4 the shifts in market structure, regulation, or competitive dynamics that demand attention this week. What Leaders Are Getting Wrong? Default assumptions under pressure. The conventional wisdom that no longer holds and the blind spots that create exposure. What to change in the next days. Concrete, tactical adjustments grounded in what operators are actually doing. Planning Implications? How plans should adjust. Connecting weekly signals to annual planning cy...

Can you tell us about your journey? What first drew you into eCommerce and analytics and how did those early experiences shape the way you approach digital transformation today? You’ve worked across so many countries and markets. What have you noticed about consumer behavior? Does it really change a lot or are there surprising similarities everywhere? At PepsiCo, you lead eCommerce Strategy and Transformation for the GCC. What has been the most exciting part of driving digital change for a glo...

To what degree is advertising slowly turning into short term, performance driven marketing, and are brands sacrificing long term equity for immediate return on investment? Retail media has brought advertising directly to the point of purchase. Does this represent the ultimate evolution of marketing efficiency, or the narrowing of brand building into pure conversion mechanics? Agentic commerce and large language model driven discovery are beginning to reshape how consumers find and buy products...

You’ve built BTR Media into a 9-figure business with a 95%+ client retention rate — without chasing growth for growth’s sake. What has been the hardest part of scaling while staying true to your people-first and relationship-first philosophy? You describe BTR as the “Ritz-Carlton of Amazon Advertising.” What does that look like in practice, both for your clients and your team? You’re passionate about helping others overcome limiting beliefs. What’s one limiting belief you personally had to bre...

You focus on building strategies that start with understanding the consumer. How has putting the consumer at the center of your decisions shaped your most successful digital initiatives? Brands today operate across retail, pure-play eCommerce, and DTC channels. What are the biggest challenges in creating a seamless experience, and how do you approach solving them? With your experience in performance marketing and advanced measurement, how do you blend data insights with creative strategy to dr...

You've had quite an unconventional path into retail media — you came in from the vendor side, not from ad tech or media agencies. Can you walk us through that journey and what ultimately led you to building Topsort? A lot of retailers are now a few years into their first retail media network and starting to ask hard questions about whether the technology they built on is actually going to take them where they need to go. What are you seeing out there, and what does it really cost a retailer to ...

Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of personal branding and how professionals can stand out in today’s noisy digital world? What’s one message or takeaway you’d love every listener to walk away with after this conversation? You’ve talked about becoming your industry’s go-to expert—what were the key steps in your own journey that helped you earn credibility and authority? Many professionals struggle to clarify and monetize their message. What advice do you have for turning e...

Tell us about your journey—from finance and strategic planning at AXA to leading data strategy for some of the world’s most iconic beauty and luxury brands. What drew you into this world, and how has your background shaped your approach? You work at the intersection of data and creativity—especially in industries that have traditionally been emotionally driven. How do you balance the power of analytics with the intuition that drives beauty and luxury? You’ve worked with some of the biggest nam...

You’ve worked across B2C and B2B, brand and performance, and multiple global markets. Looking back, what moments or decisions most shaped the marketer you are today? You were running a €100m eCommerce operation as early as 2006, well before most brands truly understood digital. What did getting “early reps” in eCommerce teach you that still gives you an edge today? Retail media has become one of the fastest-growing forces in marketing, and you’ve been writing and speaking about it for years. W...

You’ve spent 25 years leading major omnichannel businesses across Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other national retailers. How did that experience shape your approach to sales and business development? What inspired you to pivot from leading large retail businesses to tackling the growing returns crisis at REBEL? How do you help brands turn the challenge of returns and overstock into recovered revenue and reduced waste? Can you share an example of how partnering with REBEL has created both fina...

Simon, looking back at your career, what were the defining moments that shaped you into the leader you are today, especially in tech-driven businesses? You’ve led multiple companies through both organic growth and acquisitions. How did those experiences influence your approach when you took on the CEO role at Syndigo? Syndigo is at the forefront of AI-powered Product Experience Management. What are some initiatives or transformations you’ve led there that you’re most proud of? How do you see ...

Can you remind everyone about Kroger Precision Marketing? Tell us about your announcement with Google this week. Incomplete measurement is a top pain point for many brands. With this new reporting, what specific “aha” moments can brands expect to see that they couldn’t see before? How do brands activate? Why is this kind of collaboration between Google and retailers important to brands? How does this change how brands should think about the role of Kroger or Google in their overall media st...

How does agentic commerce change the balance of power between AI platforms and retailers, and why do you believe retailers will remain at the center of the transaction even as conversational interfaces grow? As shopping shifts from keywords to conversations, how should brands rethink discoverability when queries become long, contextual, and highly personalized rather than short search terms? Retail media has historically been driven by keyword bidding and sponsored products. What has to fundam...

You’ve built an impressive career leading digital growth across startups and large-scale global brands. Can you take us back to the early days. What first drew you to eCommerce and the intersection of technology and commerce? You’ve delivered results across both early-stage startups and billion-dollar businesses. What are you most excited about in Careismatic’s digital journey right now, and how are you defining sustainable growth in this next chapter? With your background at the intersection ...

You’ve built and scaled one of the top five retail media networks globally—what’s one emerging opportunity in media or retail that you believe is currently undervalued or under-recognized? From analog to digital, you’ve led transformative change. What were the pivotal moments—or decisions—that unlocked the greatest growth in your journey at Best Buy and beyond? You’re known for synthesizing complexity into catalytic opportunities. Can you walk us through a moment where your framing of the futu...

Can you share a bit about your career journey and how those experiences have shaped the way you think about innovation, consumer behavior, and building high-performing teams today? Sam’s Club has been very intentional about using advertising to enhance the member experience rather than distract from it. How are you thinking about creating additive, engaging moments that genuinely improve the in-club shopping journey? The Race to the Club Omni Experience really stood out as a great example of t...

You’ve worked across startups, agencies, and large enterprises. What connects all those chapters of your career and brought you to where you are today? What originally drew you to TikTok and made this role the right next step in your journey? As Head of US Enterprise Retail and Telecom how do you help legacy brands succeed on a platform that moves at internet speed? How do you help large enterprise retailers and CPG brands translate their existing strategies into something that feels na...

You’ve held leadership roles across advertising, data, and now retail media. What excites you most about the journey that brought you to NielsenIQ, and how does it shape the way you approach this role? Retail media has become a critical investment area for CPGs. From your vantage point, what’s next in retail media, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation? As you focus on merchant analytics and collaboration, how do you see data helping to close the gap between retailers a...

You’ve had an incredibly diverse research career—from Latin American telecom to household products and beverages. Looking back, what were some of the key moments or shifts that shaped your professional journey? Equity research requires a deep understanding of trends before they become obvious to the market. What first drew you to this kind of work, and what keeps you passionate about it today? You’ve covered everything from semiconductors to consumer staples—very different sectors. What’s been...

Let’s start with your journey — what inspired you to launch LS International, and how did you build a company that’s redefining executive search across global markets? Your ability to match client needs with candidate aspirations is your superpower — how do you consistently find those game-changing fits, especially at the C-suite level? The world of FMCG is moving fast; what are the new qualities and competencies companies are seeking in their next-generation CEOs, CCOs, and CMOs? What excite...

You’ve built a remarkable career across the client, agency, and platform sides of the industry. Tell us about your journey, what experiences most shaped the way you think about marketing and media today? You’ve said you love bringing together talented teams, technology, and a culture of empathy and action. What does it take to build the next generation of media and marketing organizations in today’s landscape? You’ve described retail media as the only media transaction where the objectives of ...