We caught up with Ash White, Managing Partner at Dentsu to discuss the biggest trends he is seeing currently in retail media.
How has your role at Dentsu evolved to encompass retail media?
I’ve been at Dentsu for 14 years, working across various roles, from paid search to performance planning and client leadership. Over time, I saw how ecommerce and retail media were converging, and my background in these areas aligned perfectly with this shift.
We initially moved our PPC teams into a dedicated retail media activation team, which my colleague Matt Higgins leads. However, we also noticed growing client demand for a broader understanding of retail media beyond just auction-based CPC models like Criteo and Citrus.
To address this, we created a commerce media retail planning and strategy team, which I now lead. We also recruited externally to bolster the expertise in that team..
Our team helps clients navigate complex areas like budget allocation, cross-team collaboration, and retailer media frameworks. Essentially, we act as a bridge between shopper marketing and brand teams to unlock the full potential of retail media.
What shifts are you seeing in client attitudes toward retail media?
There’s still work to be done in shifting clients towards retail media. Many brands face political and operational challenges internally.
Retailers are moving quickly, launching new placements and opportunities, while brands are still figuring out how to integrate retail media into their existing structures.
Some clients have embraced retail media by investing deeply in a single retailer, but the real goal is to plan holistically across multiple retailers to demonstrate a unified uplift.
The brands seeing the most success are those with strong operational structures in place. That’s where my team comes in, we either work with a neutral counterpart on the client side or act as that neutral party ourselves to break down barriers and ensure both shopper and brand investments align with strategic objectives.
How is the balance shifting between endemic and non-endemic retail media?
Non-endemic retail media is still an unsolved challenge. Even the solutions provided by retailers aren’t quite there yet.
Last year, we ran a non-endemic campaign for Mastercard with Co-op, utilising in-store placements. It worked well because it aligned closely with Mastercard’s business objectives, making it more of a “near-endemic” campaign.
That’s the next evolution, finding ways for non-endemic brands to integrate into retail media in a way that makes sense.
There’s also a growing focus on in-store retail media, which has been underutilised despite its direct connection to conversions. The use of AI, camera analytics, and studies like Co-op’s recent Lumen eye-tracking research are helping prove its impact.
How is retail media expanding beyond digital into other channels?
Retail media is moving towards a fully cross-channel model, incorporating in-store, out-of-home, and digital OOH elements.
In-store media has been a huge talking point for the last year, as brands realize it’s an untapped opportunity. Meanwhile, the IAB’s Futurecapes report suggests that by 2030, all media could be classified as retail media, reinforcing the idea of a “retail media land grab.”
Proximity targeting is becoming a major part of this expansion. Retailers are looking at anything around their stores as retail media, whether it’s digital screens, near-store out-of-home placements, or location-based mobile targeting. The goal is to create a seamless omnichannel retail media ecosystem.
What’s happening with offsite retail media?
Offsite retail media is one of the fastest-growing areas we work in. Initially, retailers would simply offer brands a pre-packaged audience and ask if they wanted to buy in. Now, we’re working more collaboratively with retailers to ensure offsite campaigns align with brand objectives.
The biggest challenge with offsite is that it doesn’t have a natural home in most budgets. Onsite retail media sits comfortably within shopper and trade budgets, and in-store is increasingly moving into brand budgets.
Offsite, however, straddles performance and brand marketing. This budget ambiguity has slowed its growth, but we expect it to become a larger portion of media spend over the next few years as brands figure out how to integrate it effectively.
What are the biggest challenges facing retail media today?
One major challenge is that the industry still struggles to articulate the full benefits of retail media. While there’s plenty of talk about brand impact, many discussions still default to performance metrics like return on ad spend (ROAS). We need to get better at telling the brand story and measuring its impact.
Another challenge is internal education within brands. Many marketers are still unsure how to integrate retail media into their broader strategy.
Retailers, on the other hand, are aggressively hiring talent from Amazon, Meta, and Google to build out their media expertise. This is changing the landscape, but there’s still a lot of work to do in bridging the gap between traditional retail functions and media operations.
How is retail media changing the power dynamics within retailers?
Advertising is becoming an increasingly significant revenue stream for retailers, which is shifting the balance of power within these organizations.
Traditionally, retailers made money by selling products, not ads. Now, as ad revenues grow, media is becoming a core part of their business model.
This shift is creating tensions. For example, we recently worked with a client who booked a retaier placement, only for the retailer to sell it to another brand at the last minute. This kind of cutthroat behavior is common in trade and shopper marketing but can be a shock for brand marketers new to retail media.
It highlights the growing pains as retail media integrates deeper into brand and marketing structures.
What does the future hold for retail media?
Retail media is still in its early stages, but its trajectory is clear, it’s only going to grow.
As more brand budgets shift toward retail media, we need better metrics to demonstrate its value beyond performance KPIs. The industry also needs to continue breaking down silos between trade, shopper, and brand teams to create a truly integrated approach.
Ultimately, retail media is on track to become a foundational element of the marketing ecosystem. The brands and retailers that adapt quickly and build the right operational frameworks will be the ones that benefit most in the years ahead.
