Matt Hanlon, Director of Omnichannel & Media at Boots, spoke at MadFest North about the surprises he encountered stepping into retail media and what the future holds for brands and retailers in this rapidly evolving space.
Silos are everywhere
Hanlon’s first shock was the persistence of silos. “Silos. Everywhere. You work to find silos, but one of the things I struggle with at the moment is that these silos are holding back the opportunity and growth for retail media,” he said.
For someone coming from brand marketing, the fragmentation of retail media operations was eye-opening.
“When you try to build a brand campaign, you want your own scoreboard, your own things to measure. But retail media can intersect all those dimensions. It can truly understand the incremental impact of media across a full-funnel activation, using audience signals to drive behavioural change,” he said.
Hanlon illustrated this with Boots’ work with Unilever. “The brand came to us and said, ‘This isn’t just about sales. We’ve identified a new shopping moment.’ Starting with the audience, we built holistic marketing plans that addressed acquisition, re-engagement and education,” he said.
The storefront cliff edge
The second shock was what Hanlon calls the “storefront cliff edge”: the uncertainty of how consumers navigate digital retail spaces. “We have a chance to help brands navigate this environment. In agentic scenarios, it becomes linear in terms of ranking. But we need to show brands their moment to shine, driving incremental loyalty and preference,” he said.
Retail media, he argued, is uniquely positioned to leverage trust and audience insight.
“You can share the trust of a retail partner, share insights and loyalty information, and build plans that target the right people at the right time,” he said. Boots’ work with GHD was an example, where influencer-led campaigns were designed to build long-term consumer connections, not just immediate transactions.
The performance revolution
The final shock was the potential of retail media to deliver true closed-loop measurement. “Retail media has the Holy Grail: it can understand touchpoints with media and measure behavioural impact within a retail environment,” he said.
Yet consistency across the industry remains an issue. “We’re still measuring differently. There’s no clear understanding. Too often, we focus on ROAs or vanity metrics that don’t matter. What matters is optimising for the response you want to drive, shifting behaviour and increasing loyalty and preference for brands and partners,” Hanlon said.
He highlighted Boots’ Audience 360 initiative. “It defines the core objective for our brands and optimises results across media components. It’s not about ROAs; it’s about the multiplicative effect across channels and understanding how to achieve the desired behavioural outcome,” he explained.
Preparing for an AI-driven future
Beyond these three shocks, Hanlon shared lessons on preparing for AI’s growing role in retail media.
“Once you’ve got the foundations in place, you’d be surprised how quickly you can move forward. The difficult bit is your foundations and your organisation. Concentrate on those bits because the rest is easier to solve today,” he said.
He emphasised AI-first thinking, from creative optimisation to agent-driven activation. “Retail media networks need an AI-first roadmap, implementing AI across every step. Teams shouldn’t be stuck pulling data in spreadsheets; they should be thinking strategically,” he said.
An opportunity for the industry
Hanlon concluded with a reflection on retail media’s wider potential. “These are moments where we have an opportunity as an industry. If we focus on silos, the storefront cliff edge, and the performance revolution, we can unlock incremental value for brands, retailers, and consumers,” he said.
Retail media, he argued, is no longer just a tactical tool. It is where creativity, data, trust, and technology intersect to deliver measurable impact.
“Retail media comes to life when we align on the fundamentals, understand our audiences, and leverage data and technology to drive meaningful behavioural change,” he concluded.
