Why Retail Media Is Becoming a Strategic Growth Capability

Drawing on stops across media agencies, Diageo, Criteo, and CitrusAd before moving into AI-powered commerce at Thrad, Roger argues that retail media is becoming a much more strategic discipline than it's traditionally been treated as.

Retail media as a strategic capability, not just a media line

A central theme of the conversation is that retail media shouldn't be boxed in as simply another advertising channel or line item in commercial planning. Roger and Steve discuss:

• Why retail media should be viewed as a strategic growth capability, not simply another media channel

• How leading brands think differently about retail media investment

• Why retail media should sit alongside media strategy, not just commercial planning

• Why stronger partnerships between retailers and brands will become increasingly important

What AI changes next

The conversation also turns to how large language models are changing product discovery, and what that means for retailers and brands preparing for the next generation of AI-driven shopping:

• How AI and large language models are changing product discovery and retail media

• What retailers should be doing today to prepare for agentic commerce

• Why trusted first-party data will become even more valuable in an AI-driven retail environment

• How retailers can monetise conversational shopping experiences

• Why product discoverability is becoming a critical competitive advantage

• How AI will reshape collaboration between commercial, marketing, and retail media teams

Watch the full conversation above, or on The Retail Media Show, a weekly show for the people building, buying, selling, and trying to make sense of retail media.