Creative SSP TripleLift recently released new research – “The Creative Edge in Retail Media: A Comprehensive Guide” – which has discovered a significant disconnect in the rapidly growing retail media industry. While targeting and measurement dominate industry conversations, the research revealed that creative excellence is the true performance differentiator, yet it remains largely overlooked.
The findings come as retail media reaches new heights, with the global market projected to hit $179.5 billion by the end of 2025, representing 23.2% of the overall advertising market. Despite this growth, the research uncovers an uncomfortable truth: the industry is investing heavily in data and targeting while undervaluing the creative quality that actually drives results.
The research reveals a striking paradox: 70% of UK marketers acknowledge that high-quality creative is essential for stronger KPI outcomes in off-site retail media campaigns, yet significant execution gaps persist. One-third (33%) admit they struggle to evaluate the performance of the creative, while nearly 3 in 10 cite the lack of common creative standards across retailers as a key challenge.
The format performance data also tells a compelling story. Online video (68%) and display ads (66%) generate the highest satisfaction among UK marketers, followed by native (59%) and Connected TV (55%) – with 44% of marketers expressing neutral sentiment for CTV, indicating untapped potential for innovation. Dissatisfaction across all formats remains minimal (1%), indicating broad acceptance and positive performance across the board.
New Digital Age spoke to Frazer Locke, SVP International Sales at TripleLift to find out more…
Have you been surprised at the rapid evolution of the Retail Media marketplace?
I’ve been in retail since I was 16, and watching the industry evolve has been nothing short of incredible. What began as working the shop floor has transformed into this highly dynamic, data-driven ecosystem. Today, retail isn’t just about what’s happening in-store or online; it’s about understanding people, behaviors, and moments. We’ve moved from transactional commerce to experiential and predictive retailing. That evolution, where data, creativity, and technology meet, is what excites me the most. That’s the beauty of this space – it’s constantly reinventing itself. For people who are curious, strategic, and adaptable, retail media is one of the most exciting places to be.
What really attracted me to TripleLift was how it brings together cutting-edge creative formats and deep tech integrations, especially with key partners like Amazon. It’s not just about ad infrastructure or reach anymore – it’s about delivering relevance at scale. We’re helping brands navigate this new world where context, format, and timing all matter. TripleLift enables smarter advertising that feels native, performs well, and delivers real business value.
What, for you, were the standout findings of the new research?
In our latest research, two things stood out loud and clear: creative matters more than ever, and the quality of your data is what unlocks its full potential. Creative is the final touchpoint – it’s what your customer sees, remembers, and engages with. But when you combine strong creative with intelligent, real-time audience signals, you get campaigns that are not just seen, they perform. That intersection of data and design is where we’re seeing brands truly break through.
Retailers have done a solid job building ad businesses on their owned properties, but to truly compete and grow, they need to go beyond their own walls. That means taking retail media offsite, reaching high-intent audiences wherever they are online. It’s no longer about just monetizing your dot-com; it’s about extending influence across the open web, through formats that are engaging, native, and strategically placed. That’s where we’re helping retailers scale.
How can Retail Media address the ‘creative gap’ identified in the new research?
There’s this ongoing paradox we see: marketers know high-quality creative drives stronger engagement and ROI, yet they often default to low-cost formats that don’t break through. Yes, premium creative often comes with a higher CPM, but the long-term returns, from increased brand recall to improved performance metrics, more than justify the investment. In a world of clutter, creative is your differentiator, and it’s the smartest place to put your budget.
What’s more, the old-school separation between brand campaigns and performance campaigns is becoming irrelevant. Today’s marketers are thinking full-funnel from the outset: how can we capture attention, build affinity, and drive action in a single flow? With the right creative, targeted effectively, you can build campaigns that work across the funnel. It’s no longer about choosing brand or performance; it’s about building strategies that do both, in concert.
What advice would you give to advertisers taking their first steps with Retail Media?
If you’re just starting out in retail media, don’t be intimidated by scale. Start small: test a few formats, gather insights, and build from there. The key is to use your data smartly: find out who’s engaging, why, and what’s moving them through the funnel. And don’t just market to your existing customers. Think laterally about adjacents and emerging segments. That’s where growth and differentiation lie.
During Q4, we partnered with a major consumer tech brand to launch a premium product on Amazon. By combining creative formats across connected TV, display, and native, essentially a full-funnel strategy, we were able to reach new audiences at scale. The result? Seventy-five percent of the sales came from new-to-brand customers. That’s a huge win, and it really illustrates the impact of smart creative, powered by precision targeting, within retail media environments.
