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Retailers around the world are rapidly professionalising their Retail Media Networks.
Investment is flowing into onsite adtech, in-store screens, data monetisation and an expanding range of ways for brands to engage with shoppers.
At the same time, the fundamentals of brand growth remain unchanged.
Brands grow by increasing physical and mental availability to drive customer penetration.
Retail media is unique in its ability to influence both simultaneously, while also offering the potential to track penetration growth. That makes it one of the most powerful channels available.
But winning in retail media is complex.
The challenge is not just execution. It is organisational.
Retail media cuts across commercial, shopper, category, ecommerce, brand and agency teams. It draws on multiple budgets and often creates misalignment.
Agency teams do not always understand commercial priorities. Commercial teams do not always understand brand building or media. And critically, neither side consistently measures what actually matters.
Penetration growth by retailer remains underutilised as a core metric.
On top of this, brands must navigate multiple Retail Media Networks, each with different reach, formats and capabilities. Deciding where to invest and how to win requires a clear strategy that links commercial and media objectives.
It also requires an operating model that is agile, connected and supported by modern technology, allowing campaigns to run and be optimised in real time across multiple retailers.
The playbook is still being written.
Some organisations will choose to bring capability in-house. Others will lean heavily on media agencies. Most will operate somewhere in between.
What is clear is the direction of travel.
Retail media’s ability to drive both physical and mental availability, combined with retailer growth and continued adtech innovation, means it will take an increasing share of total marketing investment.
Within CPG organisations, retail media is likely to become a core growth function, sitting at the intersection of media and distribution.
Retail media leaders will need to be fluent in both worlds. They must understand how to win with retailers and how to win with media. This role is quickly becoming a pathway to broader leadership positions.
Budgets will evolve. Shopper, trade and brand investments will increasingly converge.
Penetration will become a central metric, measured at brand, category, retailer and market level. It is penetration growth that ultimately drives brand growth. Metrics such as ROAS, IROAS, CTR and short-term sales spikes are secondary without this context.
Understanding which combinations of activity drive first-time purchase will become a critical capability.
Trade spend will increasingly be reframed as media spend, with more flexibility and less reliance on rigid joint business planning commitments.
Agencies will continue to invest in retail media capabilities as they seek greater control of shopper and trade budgets. At the same time, in-house teams will push back, looking to take ownership of strategy and execution.
New tools are emerging that enable cross-retailer campaign management and real-time optimisation. These platforms allow brands to dynamically allocate spend based on where growth is actually happening, not where it was planned.
In this environment, the ability to understand and act on cross-retailer customer behaviour in real time becomes a significant competitive advantage.
Those brands that continue to question the value of retail media, or attribute challenges solely to retailer data limitations, risk falling behind.
The opportunity is clear.
Retail media is evolving into one of the most important drivers of growth in modern marketing.
And for those willing to adapt, align and invest in the right capabilities, there is everything to play for.
