Challenger vs. Legacy Brands in Retail Media: When Sponsored Products Stop Working (and What to Do Next)

Retail Media Breakfast Club · Jan 28, 2026 · 11m · transcript

There’s a conversation that comes up constantly in retail media. Challenger brands look at big legacy CPGs and think, “If only we had that budget and analytics muscle, this would be easy.” Meanwhile, those same enterprise brands look at challengers and think, “If only we could move that fast.” In this episode, I unpack why both sides are right, and why they’re also missing the bigger picture.

I’m joined by Jordan Witmer, who has a client-side background but now leads retail media strategy at the agency SALT. We dig into why retail media strategy is not one-size-fits-all, why sponsored…