Shows / Retail Media Breakfast Club
Retail Media Breakfast Club
10 minutes of expert insights every weekday. Your morning ritual for staying ahead in retail media.
Episodes
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail 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…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubTransactional Commerce Inside Perplexity: Ashley Furniture’s AI Bet
In this episode, I unpack one of the clearest real-world examples yet of how AI shopping is reshaping retail strategy. Ashley Furniture is officially…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAmazon Wants Your Store Open — But Keeps Its Own Closed to AI Agents
Amazon has always operated in contradictions. And in this episode, I dissect comments made on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast made by Justin…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy Loyalty Programs Are the Real Power Play as AI Reshapes Retail Media
Recently I joined a retail media panel at Loyalty Connect in Atlanta, surrounded by the people who’ve spent decades building and evolving loyalty programs…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubHow Brands Are REALLY Using AI for Retail Media Automation
At Xnurta’s Signal to Scale Summit this week, I heard some of the most practical conversations yet about how brands are actually using AI in retail media…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubHow Clorox Uses Data Clean Rooms to Unlock Powerful Personalization (AI Marketing Explained)
In this episode, I share snippets of a recent episode of the Flywheel Commerce Collective podcast, and take you inside how Clorox has evolved its approach to…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubPublicis Buys LiveRamp: What It Means for Retail Media, Data Ownership & the Future of Identity
I’m coming to you from an airport lounge (because business travel is always glamorous, right?) with the breaking news that I couldn’t ignore: Publicis has…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubDollar General’s Retail Media Power Play: The Full-Stack Strategy Unlocking Brand Dollars
Dollar General has been making serious waves in retail media. In this episode, I break down what’s really going on beneath the surface of their latest…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe Retail Media Illusion: Why Agentic Commerce Will Disrupt E-Commerce Sooner Than You Think
Last week, I stepped onto the stage at the Digital Shelf Summit here in Atlanta for a debate that’s been heating up across the industry: is agentic commerce an…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubPredictive Commerce: Why Life-Stage Data Could Replace Retail Media’s Obsession with Transactions
Most retail media networks are built to look backward. But what if the real opportunity is predicting what customers will do next? In this episode, a reprise…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI Is Quietly Breaking Retail Media — And No One Wants to Admit It
Today I unpack a contrarian take that’s been sitting with me since my conversation with James Deaker on The Yield Doctor: what if the biggest threat to retail…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubKroger’s Retail Media Playbook: Why Context Data Is the Future of Commerce Media
A few weeks ago, Kroger Precision Marketing announced a major partnership with Google that allows brands to activate Kroger audiences directly inside YouTube…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail Media’s Narrative Problem (And How to Fix It for Optimal Impact)
Today I dive into a powerful idea that completely reframed how I think about retail media in relation to communicating narrative. After listening to a…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubI Need Your Help! Which Retail Media Trends Can’t You Ignore in 2026?
Today, I’m doing something a little different. After attending Possible Miami and The Drum's Global Commerce Media Leaders Forum, my brain is overflowing, in…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy iROAS Metrics Are So Inconsistent (And Why Debate Is Good For The Industry)
Today I unpack the intense industry reaction to a piece of Albertsons Media Collective, Ovative Group, and Kellogg School of Management research that…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubBring the “Retail” Back to Retail Media: 4 Fixes Every RMN Needs Now
Last week, I had the opportunity to moderate a powerhouse panel at the The Drum's inaugural Global Commerce Leaders Forum in Miami. And let me tell you, the…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubKroger x YouTube: The Retail Media Breakthrough That Could Unlock Billions in Brand Budgets
I’m coming to you a little under the weather today, but this recap of my recent article for The Drum was too important not to share. In this episode, I break…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubIn-Store Retail Media Measurement Is Broken — Shopper Purchase Rate Explained with Catalyst & In-Store Marketplace
Today I’m sharing highlights from a recent LinkedIn Live I hosted with Paul Brenner from In-Store Marketplace and Michelle Dooley from Catalyst Media…
Retail Media Breakfast Club7 Retail Media Upfront Secrets: What Home Depot Got Right (And What Others Are Missing)
I made the trek through Atlanta traffic to attend Home Depot’s Orange Apron Media upfronts, and let me tell you, it was absolutely worth it. In a year where…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe Real ROI of Retail Media Events: Are Work Trips Still Worth It in 2026?
Today I’m taking you behind the scenes of a packed stretch of travel — three major industry events in just a few days — and using it as a jumping-off point to…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubHome Depot’s Retail Media Playbook: How Orange Apron Media Is Winning Where Others Can’t
Today I’m focusing on my recent article for The Drum, breaking down what really stood out from Home Depot’s third annual Infronts event, and there’s more going…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail Media vs National Media: The Measurement Debate Brands Can’t Ignore
Today I dig into a question that’s been coming up more and more from retail media leaders: Should we be measuring retail media the same way we measure national…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe Real Secret Behind Consistent Content: Storytelling, AI & My Big Mishap
I recently had the pleasure of joining one of my favorite retail media podcasts, Unlocked, with Austin and Elizabeth. Today, I’m sharing a snippet from that…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI Is Clicking Your Ads (And Wasting Your Budget) — The Hidden Retail Media Crisis
Today I'm unpacking a blind spot that completely changed how I’m thinking about AI’s impact on retail media. Recently I’ve been talking a lot about the…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubBrand Media vs Commerce Media: How Gildan Is Redefining Retail Media Strategy for Faster, Cheaper Growth
In this episode, I dive into a fascinating recent conversation featuring Gildan’s Jason O’Toole on The CPG Guys podcast and unpack a powerful idea that stopped…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWriting Into the Void: How I Built Authority in Retail Media (From Zero to 28K Followers)
Today I’m taking you behind the scenes of something I don’t talk about enough: what it really feels like to start over, even after years of experience. From…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy AI Grocery Shopping Isn’t Taking Over Yet (But Absolutely Will)
Not all shopping is created equal. And honestly, not all of it is fun. Today I'm unpacking the tension between the idea of AI-powered shopping and the reality…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubDark Search & AI Shopping: The Hidden Threat (and Opportunity) for Retail Media
Today I'm unpacking a fascinating shift happening right under our noses in retail media — what has been coined “dark search.” I explore how AI-driven discovery…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI Advertising Is Happening NOW: What Retailers Must Know Before It’s Too Late
The conventional wisdom says AI advertising is something for the future, but I’m not buying that. Today, I extrapolate on Debbie Ajo Williamson’s insights…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAgentic Commerce Isn’t the Threat You Think — Why Retailers Are Playing the Long Game
A few months ago, it felt like everyone in retail media was bracing for impact. Agentic commerce, zero-click search, and Gen AI were being treated as…
Retail Media Breakfast Club83% of Retail Media Campaigns Are Misleading You (iROAS Exposed)
Today I’m revisiting my recent article for The Drum and digging into a piece of research that stopped me in my tracks. And honestly, it might change how you…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubThe Retail Media Fermi Paradox: Why Everyone Talks Growth… But Only Amazon & Walmart Win
Recently an essay stopped me in my tracks. My friend Drew Cashmore (Chief Strategy Officer at Vantage) wrote a brilliant piece for his Retail Media Leapfrog…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail Media Measurement Is Broken (Here’s What Brands Actually Want Instead)
Today I'm unpacking a fascinating conversation from a recent episode of the Unlocking Retail Media podcast with Andrew Covato and host James Avery that…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy Retailer Magazines Are the Next Big Retail Media Channel (Post-AI Shopping Era)
Today I’m revisiting a recent article I penned for The Drum and digging into something that feels almost counterintuitive in a world obsessed with AI and…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy Retail Media Looks So Different in the US vs Europe (And Why You’re Comparing It Wrong)
Last year, I found myself navigating chaotic scooter traffic in Thailand, only to realize how dramatically things can change with just a little extra weight…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI Discovery Is Reshaping Retail: Shoptalk 2026 Insights
At Shoptalk last week, I noticed something that really stuck with me; and it wasn’t happening on the main stage. The sessions that had an overflow of attendees…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubShoptalk 2026: AI, Agentic Commerce & Retail Media’s Next Power Shift
I’m coming to you live from Shoptalk 2026 in Las Vegas, and this ep is packed with rapid-fire insights straight from the show floor. I pulled together six of…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAre AI Ads the Next Billion-Dollar Channel? How Retail Media Wins in the Age of LLMs [Agentic Commerce Expert Series Part 4 of 4]
In Part 4 of the Agentic Commerce Expert Series, we dive into one of the biggest emerging questions in retail media right now: what happens when ads enter AI…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubCostco Exposing Its Retail Media Tech Stack Might Change Everything
In August 2025 I broke down why so many retail media networks keep their ad tech stacks hidden. And to be honest, the reasons weren’t exactly flattering. But…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail Media Has a PR Problem: CVS Media Exchange’s Bold Wake-Up Call
Today I’m digging into a refreshingly honest and frankly rare take from Parbinder Dhariwal, VP, General Manager at CVS Media Exchange (CMX). Instead of the…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubGoogle’s New AI Patent Could Hijack Your Landing Pages (And Charge You for It)
Today I’m breaking down a jaw-dropping development from Google that could fundamentally reshape how we think about paid traffic, brand control, and the role of…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy Ecommerce Signals Are Disappearing And What Retailers Must Do Next [Agentic Commerce Expert Series Part 3 of 4]
Today I dig into a major shift happening in retail media: the signals we’ve relied on for years are starting to disappear. As discovery moves upstream into AI…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubOpenAI Killed Instant Checkout… But Agentic Shopping Isn’t Dead (What Retailers Need to Know Now)
OpenAI quietly pulled the plug on Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT and the internet immediately declared agentic commerce dead. But I think that conclusion…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubMy RampUp Notes: Why Data Collaboration Is Winning Ad Budgets
Last week I shared some of the hallway chatter from the RampUp conference. And in this episode, I’m emptying the rest of my notebook. One theme kept surfacing…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubHow Nestlé Decides Which Retail Media Networks Get Budget (And Why They Compare Them to Google & Meta)
Last week at the LiveRamp RampUp conference, I moderated a panel with DoorDash Ads’ Peter Giordano and Nestlé’s Nicole Lesinski. The conversation revealed…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubPDP the New Homepage? How AI Shopping Is Reshaping Retail Media & Ecommerce [Agentic Commerce Expert Series Part 2 of 4]
In episode 2 of this four-part Agentic Commerce Expert Series (sponsored by Mirakl Ads), we explore how AI is quietly reshaping the way consumers shop online…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubDirty Secrets of Retail Media: 5 Ethical Dilemmas Brands Need to Know
Today I'm recapping a recent article I published on The Drum and digging into some of the ethical dilemmas emerging inside the retail media industry. The…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI, Retail Media & First-Party Data: What Everyone Is Really Saying After RampUp 2026
I just got back from LiveRamp’s RampUp conference, one of the most interesting gatherings in commerce media right now. If you work in retail media, data…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubWhy Retail Media Can’t Unlock Brand Budgets (Until Brands Fix This One Thing)
Retail media networks want brand dollars — that part isn’t new. But what is new (and honestly, under-discussed) is the uncomfortable reality that many brands…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubAI Shopping Is Here: How LLMs Are Rewriting Retail Discovery [Agentic Commerce Expert Series Part 1 of 4]
LLMs aren’t just answering questions anymore: they’re becoming the very first step of the shopping journey. In the kickoff episode of this four-part Agentic…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubUS vs EU Retail Media: The 5 Structural Barriers Reshaping In-Store Advertising
I wasn’t expecting a transatlantic debate when I published a piece about Sam's Club’s in-store retail media success. But what followed was a lively pushback…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubRetail Media 3.0: Why AI & Agentic Commerce Could Spark the Golden Era of Advertising
Tom I’m sharing highlights from a conversation I had on the Retailgentic podcast with Scot Wingo, one of the sharpest thinkers tracking agentic commerce and…
Retail Media Breakfast ClubROAS Refuses to Die: The Retail Media Measurement Problem No One Wants to Fix
Every parent has drawn a line in the sand and declared war on screen time… until 5:00 PM hits and the iPad comes flying in to remedy a meltdown so you can make…