Good morning from Retail Media Age HQ,
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a week since our fantastic RMA lunch in Manchester, where we enjoyed bringing together a brilliant group of retail, agency, and tech professionals for a thoroughly memorable afternoon.
Our panellists – Justin Tay, at Epsilon; Heidrun Thrainsdottir-Kelly, at dentsu; Dean Harris, at Co-op Media Network; and Emelia Lavery, at THG Ingenuity – dove deep on questions of retail media’s fragmentation and ‘growing pains’ in an extremely engaging discussion.
I particularly enjoyed the analogy from Justin Tay comparing AI to avocado toast – no-one quite knows where it sprung from, but suddenly it’s on every brunch menu – and his comparison of retailers foraying into retail media to a new driver joining Max Verstappen’s racing team. Not every industry player will have a top-notch car or be able to go at full speed right out of the gate, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the chance to grow and come into their own.
The panel discussion ended on a note of reflection about community, with Lavery observing that some of the best conversations spring from when retailers, tech platforms, agencies and brands are prepared to be open and share insights with one another. I can only say how much I agree, and this is exactly the thinking that led us to create RMA’s community lunches – and why we’re excited to keep bringing them to life and connecting people within the industry. If there’s anything more you’d like to see from these events or any suggestions that you have, don’t hesitate to write to us.
There was also a clear call for “more events up north” (with Tay predicting that Manchester is positioned to be the new London) that has been heard loud and clear!
A big thank you goes out to our speakers for their time and insight into the subjects we tackled, as well as to our headline sponsor Epsilon and supporting partners Koddi and AppsFlyer for making the day possible; and to everyone who attended and made the event such a success. Watch this space for more write-ups from the day, and of course, more community-oriented events – because believe it or not, our next RMA lunch is already coming up quickly!
Taking place on 10th September, this event will be back on familiar ground in Osteria by Bocconcino, Covent Garden, London – the same venue as Retail Media Age’s fantastic inaugural lunch last February. We will have many more updates to share in the near future about topics and speakers, but you can already secure your ticket for yourself and colleagues – or get in touch if you’re interested in a supporting partnership!
In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying a bit of respite from the rapid pace of work as we head into a comparatively quieter season during the northern hemisphere summer.
Read more viewpoints from Retail Media Age’s editorial staff and expert commentators in our RMA columns.
