Dan Gee is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Media Futures Market, an independent media agency and marketplace based in London and Amsterdam.
Gee spoke to Retail Media Age about how MFM advises clients on retail media and how the agency plays to retail media’s unique strengths, as well as why conversations about retail media mustn’t overlook the very human side of shopper decision-making.
What has the rise of retail media been like for Media Futures Market? Have you evolved your proposition or your pitches to clients in response to it?
The rise of retail media has been both a catalyst and a test for MFM. It validates our belief that media must sit closer to commercial outcomes, but it also exposes fragmentation. Its rise has birthed too many networks, inconsistent metrics and channel-by-channel pitches.
We have always advocated that the brief should evolve from “add retail media” to “where does commerce media sit in the total growth plan?” This should be a strategic consideration linked to creative, category strategy and incrementality.
How are you seeing client strategies evolve around retail media?
Clients are taking retail media seriously, but we always advise against letting one channel guide the strategy. Our role is to help clients think about channel orchestration: how commercially oriented channels like retail media work alongside channels that build brand equity, such as OOH.
The strategy should strike the right balance across the mix in pursuit of clear business goals. In one recent case, we helped a client redirect spend away from a retail media solution after a test that revealed that the investment helped volume but hindered margin.
What is your approach to dealing with any silos on the client’s side?
Retail media often sits across marketing, sales, shopper, ecommerce, trade and finance, so unclear ownership can weaken decision-making. That’s why we try to make the operating model explicit before the media plan. We align teams around one brief, one measurement framework and one decision cadence.
The aim is not to remove every internal tension; it’s to stop different teams optimising different metrics and calling it strategy. It’s also helpful to ensure that this kind of media route isn’t drawing down off budgets that sustain top of mind awareness and brand equity over the long term.
What do you think is the key thing that sets retail media apart from other channels or media types?
Retail media’s distinctive strength is the connection between the data (audience data, shopping behaviour) and proximity to purchase. That makes it powerful. It can support conversion, visibility, availability and retailer relationships. Unlike other channels, media, distribution and commercial negotiation are closely intertwined, so it needs to be planned with both media discipline and commercial context, not treated as another line item.
What’s a common misconception about retail media that you’d love to debunk?
That retail media is just performance media with better data. That misses the human bit. People still need help choosing, especially in busy, messy shopping environments. Good retail media borrows from great shopper marketing and behavioural science: make the choice easier, more memorable and more compelling. And sometimes the most powerful thing a brand can do is show up boldly and creatively in store.
What one piece of advice would you give to brands who are considering adding retail media to their channel mix?
Start with the business problem, not the retailer proposition. Be clear whether you are trying to grow penetration, defend share, support a launch, improve conversion or strengthen retailer partnerships. It’s obviously all of the above; but get your priorities straight. Then brief and choose partners accordingly.
Retail media should not become a tax on trade relationships; it should earn its role in the total mix through clear objectives, strong orchestration and proper testing.
Read more agency perspectives on retail media in RMA’s Agency Views series.
