Justin Pearse, Editor-in-Chief of Retail Media Age (RMA) sat down with Lucia Mastromauro, Deliveroo’s new VP of Advertising at our retail media event in Cannes to accompany the soft launch of RMA.
You’ve had a varied and impressive career rooted in data and technology. What drew you to Deliveroo and retail media at this point?
Deliveroo is amazing. My background has always been grounded in data, tech and advertising, from traditional digital marketing and ecommerce consultancy, to building AdTech products at eBay that made media buying more efficient. I went on to lead programmatic and tech sales at Google, built the publisher business at King, and most recently led WPP’s data and tech consultancy, Acceleration (now Choreograph Consulting).
So when the Deliveroo role came up, it felt like a perfect fit. It’s not just a publisher play, it’s retail media in one of the most high-intent, high frequency environments. It is a rare chance to put data and technology to work in a way that benefits the customer, our partners, the brand, and the business at the same time.
It brings together everything I have done so far, and it pushes it into the future.
How has your perspective on data changed, especially with how accessible it is now?
It’s not that the data has changed, but how accessible and usable it has become.
In the past, only the largest platforms could afford the tooling, the teams, and the infrastructure to activate data meaningfully. But now, more businesses can unlock its value – for targeting, measurement, creative, optimisation – all of it.
The power lies in using that data responsibly and effectively. When done well, there is far less leakage and a much tighter feedback loop between media, message, and outcome.
What made retail media the natural next step for you?
It’s funny, I have been circling it for years. At eBay, we were already exploring what it meant to bring commerce closer to content, from early transactional formats to retail APIs.
But now the tech, the mindset, and the ecosystem are ready.
What excites me is the ability to connect brand messaging to real moments of consumer decision making. Deliveroo is uniquely positioned to do that, whether it’s mid-week lunch orders, the Saturday night celebration, the midweek grocery top-up or the forgotten birthday gift.
Those moments matter, and we can make them more meaningful for both the customer and the advertiser.
You’re just getting started at Deliveroo. What are the challenges you see in your new role?
One clear and exciting challenge is focus. We reached 1.4 percent of group GTV from advertising last year and are aiming for over 2 percent of group GTV by 2026.
Deliveroo already has strong foundations, we are not starting from zero, but now we need to scale thoughtfully. That means improving the advertiser experience, sharpening our go-to-market, and evolving our platform and data capabilities to support sustainable growth.
How does Deliveroo balance value for advertisers, customers, and partners?
Deliveroo is a three-sided marketplace, customers, partners, and riders – and advertising needs to serve that full ecosystem, without disrupting the customer experience.
Any ad experience must feel native and additive. We want ads that are useful, timely, and respectful of the user journey.
At King, I worked on similar challenges: how to integrate advertising in a way that enhances the user experience rather than disrupts it. The key is thoughtful design, smart use of data, experimentation, and fast iteration. That same approach will guide us here.
We’re in Cannes, the home of creativity. How important is creativity in retail media?
It is absolutely essential.
Historically, creativity often came last, let me buy the media, then think about the message. But in retail media, especially in a high-intent environment like Deliveroo, creativity needs to lead.
Users are in a specific mindset. The creative must speak to that moment, it needs to be relevant, engaging, and value-adding.
Deliveroo’s app already has one of the best user experiences out there, and I am really excited to work with our in-house creative team to keep that standard high while helping brands tell their stories in smarter, more engaging ways.
Finally, why does Cannes remain such a vital destination for the industry?
There’s still nowhere else quite like it.
The scale of conversations you can have in just a few days is unmatched. Tech, creative, media, they all come together here. It is where ideas are born and partnerships take shape.
Cannes gives us the space to learn, connect, and imagine what comes next.
If you are in this industry and you are not in Cannes, you are missing a real opportunity to shape the future.
Read more news, views and interviews from the retail media industry at Retail Media Age.
