All Episodes
Mirakl Ads at Cannes: Commerce Media Skips Its Own Lion
Every year, Cannes Lions promises to bring the advertising world together. But if you work in retail media, you've probably noticed that our corner of the industry hea...
Same Words, Different Forks: Recap of eMarketer & Sensor Tower Commerce Media Executive Briefing at Cannes Lions
Fresh from Cannes Lions, I'm unpacking one of the biggest themes that kept surfacing across analyst discussions: retail media's greatest obstacles aren't external — th...
When Sam's Club "Connects" With Walmart, What Actually Connects?
When I sat down with Harvey Ma at Cannes Lions this week, I wanted to understand what was really happening behind Walmart’s announcement that it was bringing Walmart C...
Cannes Lions 2026 Dispatch: Agentic Media Buying, Retail Media Shakeups, and the Future of Creator Commerce
I’m coming to you once again from Cannes, this time from the PayPal Ads Café on the Croisette. It’s been a whirlwind few days here, not just in terms of meetings and p...
PayPal Ads’ Big Retail Media Bet: Why Shoppable Ads Could Finally Work (And The Future of Commerce in an AI World)
Reporting from Cannes Lions, I sat down with Dr. Mark Grether, SVP & General Manager at PayPal Ads, to explore a different perspective on retail media, one that cuts t...
Retail Media at Cannes, 278 Episodes In & What’s Next for Retail Media Breakfast Club (Break Announcement + New Projects)
This week I’m at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity wrapping up the final week of this season of Retail Media Breakfast Club. I also share some...
Chewy Ads vs. Retail Media’s Data Hoarders: Why Transparency Wins in Retail Media
Retail media is splitting into two distinct camps: retailers that see media as an extension of their core business, and those that see themselves as media companies fi...
The Shortcut Demon: The AI Data Problem Nobody In Agentic Commerce Wants to Fix (Demons Series Part 3 of 3)
Everyone wants the upside of AI, agentic commerce, autonomous shopping agents, and LLM-powered product discovery. But there’s a problem: none of it works without clean...
Creator-Led Retail Media Explained: The Truth About Influencer Marketing, Retail Media Networks & Shopper Data
Creators and retail media are two of the hottest topics in commerce media right now, and everywhere I turn, I hear that they're converging into a massive opportunity. ...
Retail Media Flywheel Explained: How Marketplaces Become Ad Revenue Engines (Lowe’s Case Study + Future of Commerce)
In this episode, I reflect on a panel I joined at Mirakl’s Annual Outpace Summit in New York, where a World Cup analogy sparked a bigger realization about what it real...
The Retail Media Reckoning: 6 Survival Strategies for Commerce Media Networks Before It’s Too Late
Recent;u, I made the case that retail media is far more than a tax on brands or a rounding error disguised as a marketing channel. I still firmly believe that. But bel...
The Silo Demon: Why Retail Media Networks Are Becoming the Most Powerful Team in Retail (Demons Series Part 2 of 3)
Today we continue our series on the biggest threats facing retail media by tackling what I call the “Silo Demon.” Joined by Anne Hallock, VP Americas at Mirakl Ads, we...
Retail Media’s Biggest Identity Crisis: Why Brands Are Asking the Wrong Question
For years, we've debated where retail media belongs. Is it part of search? Is search part of retail media? In this episode, I revisit a question I posed 18 months ago ...
AI Shopping Is Rewriting Consumer Behavior: The Hidden Signals Brands Can't Afford to Ignore
Last week, I facilitated a closed-door workshop with brand leaders, retailers, agencies, and technology partners at the P2PI Retail Media Summit in Chicago. While much...
Retail Media Is Mid? The Brutal Truth About Amazon, Walmart & the Future of Retail Media
At Advertising Week New York, I had a surprising encounter that perfectly captured a growing sentiment in the advertising industry: that retail media is nothing more t...
The Growth Demon Inside Retail Media: Why Profitability Will Define the Next Era (Demons Series Part 1 of 3)
Retail media has spent years chasing top-line revenue growth, but what happens when growth alone is no longer enough? In this episode, I’m joined by Anne Hallock, VP A...
AI Retail Media Buying: Are We Handing the Keys to the Bots Too Soon?
I recently noticed something strange while selling items on Facebook Marketplace: automated buyers sending automated messages, met by my own automated seller responses...
Retail Media PR Secrets: What Actually Gets Coverage in 2026 (Please, Spill Some Tea)
In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what it’s actually like being on the receiving end of PR pitches in the retail media industry, and why most of them co...