Retail Media Therapy

In this episode of Retail Media Therapy, Viv Craske and Colin Lewis unpack a week packed with developments across AI search, retail media innovation, and marketplaces.

Key Topics in This Episode:

AI platforms are reconsidering advertising
AI search platforms are taking different approaches to monetisation.
Perplexity is stepping back from ads to protect user trust, while Google is experimenting with ads inside AI search results. At the same time, Criteo has announced the ability to run performance advertising within ChatGPT, signalling that retail media could become an early monetisation layer for AI interfaces. Criteo’s integration with ChatGPT and tests by Target’s Roundel suggest retailers and ad tech platforms are moving quickly to connect retail media demand with AI environments.

Argos launches a marketplace with Mirakl
Argos, owned by Sainsbury’s, has selected Mirakl to power its new marketplace.
Marketplaces allow retailers to expand product assortment rapidly, attract long-tail sellers, and layer retail media monetisation on top. Mirakl’s growing ecosystem - including marketplace tools, advertising capabilities and AI integrations - is helping retailers accelerate this strategy.

Wickes launches a DIY retail media network
UK home improvement retailer Wickes has launched its own retail media network, joining the growing list of non-grocery retailers monetising their audiences.
DIY retail media comes with unique challenges:
Longer shopper journeys
Lower purchase frequency
Greater need for education and content
A mix of B2C and trade customers
This means awareness, inspiration and video content may play a bigger role than pure conversion advertising.

Key Takeaways
• AI platforms are still experimenting with how advertising fits into AI search experiences
• Retail media players are already moving into AI environments
• Marketplaces remain a powerful engine for retail media growth
• DIY and home improvement retail media networks require a different strategy from grocery or FMCG
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Retail Media Therapy – EP38

Open Letters, Big vs Small Networks & The In-Housing Dilemma

Welcome back to the couch. In this episode of Retail Media Therapy, Viv and Colin tackle three topics that are dominating boardrooms, conference stages and LinkedIn threads:
The measurement obsession in retail media
Whether size really matters for retail media networks
The rise of in-housing – and what it means for brands
Expect metaphors. Mild football confusion. And a lifetime supply of Berocca at stake.

🧨 Topic 1: An Open Letter to Bayer on Measurement
After comments from Bayer’s retail media lead suggesting retail media must improve measurement before budgets increase further, Viv responds with an open letter.
The central question:

Why are we holding retail media networks to a higher measurement standard than the rest of advertising ever faced?

Key discussion points:
Retail media now commands 25% of some brand media budgets
Calls for “holistic measurement” and cross-retailer comparisons
The industry's obsession with incrementality
Whether measurement is genuinely the blocker - or just the latest conference cliché

Colin’s take?
No TV network in history was ever asked for perfect incrementality modelling before getting a budget.

Viv’s take?
We’ve confused efficiency with effectiveness.

And yes, there may be aspirin involved.

📏 Topic 2: Does Size Matter in Retail Media?

Two case studies spark the debate:

A UK Co-Op retail media network launching with ~500 stores and 1 million members
Australia Post launching a network with limited rollout

So how big is “big enough”?
Is scale essential?
Or is audience quality and retailer relationship what really matters?

Key considerations:
CPM economics at smaller scale
Regional strength vs national reach
Specialist audiences vs mass audiences
The myth that “more networks” equals “too many networks”

Conclusion?
Size doesn’t automatically determine value. Relevance does.

🏠 Topic 3: In-Housing – Retail Media’s Next Shift

In-housing is accelerating – particularly driven by retail media.
Why?
Speed requirements
Exponential growth in creative demand
Cost pressure
Need for commercial alignment
AI enabling scale

Colin shares examples including:
P&G dynamically optimising sponsored products every 15 minutes
Arla’s “The Barn” in-house model
L’Oréal’s Retail team moving to 100% programmatic in-house

But it’s not all upside.
Viv raises the key risks:
Talent churn
Cultural clash
Creative stagnation
Owning underperformance internally

The likely answer?
Hybrid models. Keep strategic creativity external. Bring operational scale closer.

💡 Episode Takeaways
Retail media measurement is improving – but the narrative is exaggerated.
Smaller networks can still offer meaningful value.
In-housing is accelerating – but managing talent and performance is complex.
The future likely belongs to hybrid models.

🛋️ Join the Conversation
Is measurement really retail media’s biggest problem?
How big is big enough?
Would you in-house retail media?
Lie down on the couch and let us know.
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Iceland Retail Media’s 5,000 Screen Rollout & The Future of Measurable In-Store Media
This week on Retail Media Therapy, Viv Craske and Colin Lewis sit down with Adam Smith from Iceland Retail Media to unpack one of the most ambitious in-store retail media projects in the UK.
Iceland isn’t just refreshing its network - it’s rolling out up to 5,000 in-store screens across in under a year. And they’re not just adding screens - they’re transforming measurement.

What You’ll Learn
Resetting a Retail Media Network
Iceland Retail Media relaunched in 2025 after restructuring its agency model.
Screens have been part of the business for years - but this rollout takes them to an entirely new level.
A fast-moving, privately owned business means rapid execution.

Why Screens? Why Now?
Every major UK retailer is investing in in-store screens - the question is how well they measure.
Iceland chose to double down on screens as a core channel of its retail media strategy.
The rollout could become one of the largest non-London-centric in-store networks in the UK.

Clickstream for the Store
Adam describes the ambition as bringing “clickstream media to bricks and mortar.”
Key elements include:
Real-time in-store impression measurement
Dwell time tracking
Viewable impression data
Closed-loop attribution linking media exposure to EPOS sales
The goal? Prove that £1 spent in-store can outperform £1 spent elsewhere.

Privacy-First Measurement
Instead of cameras or facial recognition:
Iceland is using millimetre-wave sensors
Tracking is based on water-content scanning
Each shopper is anonymised via temporary RFID tagging
Fully GDPR compliant
No personal identification or ongoing tracking
This approach delivers measurable impressions without compromising shopper trust.

Beyond Media: Operational Insights
The data doesn’t just power media measurement. It also enables:
Live footfall tracking
Customer flow mapping
Hotspot identification
Smarter merchandising decisions
Better labour planning
Retail media becomes infrastructure - not just advertising.

The Mustard Case Study
A standout example with McCormick:
AB test: stores with screens vs. without
Non-promoted EDLP product
10% sales uplift
Category share increase
Clear link between impressions and sales
And this isn’t just a one-off - this level of reporting is now standard for Iceland suppliers.

The Operational Reality
Installing thousands of screens is no small task:
Overnight installations in live retail environments
Infrastructure challenges
Store team coordination
Retail media isn’t just marketing - it’s operations.
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Episode 36 – Is ChatGPT Getting Greedy? Diageo Gets Data-Savvy & AI Traffic Explained

In this episode of Retail Media Therapy, Viv Craske and Colin Lewis dive into three of the hottest topics shaping retail media, marketing, and advertising right now.

First, they unpack the launch of ChatGPT advertising, questioning whether reported $60 CPMs are sustainable — or whether they’re a deliberate premium strategy driven by FOMO, brand signalling, and future valuation considerations.

Next, the conversation turns to Diageo’s retail media strategy, where the global drinks giant positions retail media networks as a full-funnel channel. From leveraging retailer first-party data to activating campaigns offsite via CTV and sponsorships, Diageo shows how retail media can connect brand building directly to purchase behaviour.

Finally, Viv and Colin explore the rise of AI-driven shopping traffic. With millions of referrals now flowing from AI tools to marketplaces, they debate whether this represents net-new demand or potential cannibalisation — and why RFM-based targeting could be the key to turning AI disruption into growth.

A must-listen for anyone working in retail media networks, marketing strategy, or digital advertising.

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The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Making Retail Media Work Inside and Outside of JBPs

In this continuation of the Show Me the Money special, Viv Craske and Colin Lewis tackle one of the toughest challenges facing brands today: extracting real value from retail media spend locked inside Joint Business Plans (JBPs).

From FMCG vs CPG debates to Beatles metaphors (John, Paul, George & Ringo = marketing, shopper, digital & ecommerce teams), the episode unpacks why retail media budgets are fragmented, hard to track, and often inefficient.

Viv and Colin explore how brands can regain control, align media spend to business objectives, and negotiate smarter retail media agreements that go beyond “promised spend” toward measurable impact.

This episode is a practical guide for brand, sales, and marketing leaders navigating the tension between commercial commitments and media effectiveness.

Key topics covered:
Why JBPs are one of the hardest places to unlock retail media value
The “four Beatles” problem: fragmented media budget ownership
Why brands often don’t know who is spending what—and where
The tension between commercial teams committing media and marketers needing flexibility
A simple 3-part retail media budgeting framework:
Goal-driven budgeting
Spending effectively (incrementality & measurement)
Being “always on”
How brands can negotiate flexibility, transparency, and insights from retailers
The rise of joint marketing agreements and retail media-specific JBPs
Why marketing teams must be in the room - not just sales

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