Alex Knapman is a retail media specialist with experience spanning grocery, ecommerce and agency strategy, including previous roles at Asda and Ocado. Now at Halfords, he is focused on how retailers can evolve retail media beyond short term performance and into long term brand building.
What are you finding interesting about your current role?
I’ve been at Halfords for just over a year and a half now. Previously, I was working more in the grocery sphere, managing the digital retail media proposition at Asda and later working on agency go to market strategy at Ocado. One of the biggest learnings moving into general merchandise is that things work very differently.
If you are a grocery retailer, PPC is probably not going to play a huge role for something like a Mars bar. But when you are selling high-consideration products like pressure washers, lubricants or oils, search and performance marketing become much more important.
At Halfords there are also a lot of top of funnel and awareness-driving opportunities that genuinely add value for customers. Product placement in ‘How To’ videos is one example. Someone searching YouTube for advice on changing car oil is looking for education and guidance, while brands also get the opportunity to feature products in a useful environment.
That is where retail media becomes more interesting. Brands can help fund better content and richer experiences for consumers, while still building visibility and consideration at the same time.
What is your view on retail media as a brand building channel?
I absolutely think retail media can build brands. I like Byron Sharp’s work around how brands grow. Brands grow through mental availability and physical availability.
Traditional media like TV and outdoor advertising are very strong at building mental availability, but retail media can uniquely combine both mental and physical availability because the ads (and shoppers) are at the point of purchase.
Historically, retail media buying happened through trade and shopper marketing teams, so conversations naturally focused on sales uplift and short term performance. Increasingly, though, retailers are trying to unlock brand budgets by working more closely with agencies and brand teams.
That changes the conversation. It becomes less about immediate conversion and more about customer lifetime value, brand salience and long term growth.
The trade side is still hugely important because retailers still need promotions and conversion activity. But account managers and buyers are not media specialists, so retailers also need routes to market that support broader brand storytelling.
How important is creativity within retail media?
Humans love storytelling. Whether it’s film, podcasts or advertising, stories are how people emotionally connect with brands.
Historically, the closer media moved towards the shelf edge, the harder it became to tell rich stories. Static shelf media has obvious limitations. But digital screens and connected TV are changing that dynamic.
CTV is particularly interesting because retailers increasingly provide the audience data. In many ways, almost all media can become retail media if retailer data powers the targeting and measurement.
CTV allows brands to combine highly creative storytelling with detailed audience targeting and sales measurement. But we should avoid measuring it like a performance channel because people shop across multiple retailers and there are always gaps in the data.
Retail media data can improve understanding, but it cannot explain everything happening in the market.
What are your views on measurement and data within retail media?
A lot of people think data gives you answers. My view is that data simply helps you ask better questions.
If you focus too narrowly on a single KPI, you can always find ways to hit it, even if it is not necessarily helping the wider business. Media performance is influenced by competitors, the economy, broader market conditions and activity happening across multiple retailers.
That is why measurement is still evolving. Trade teams are often focused on views, clicks, sales uplift and shorter attribution windows. Agencies and brand teams increasingly want deeper data integrations and inputs for marketing mix modelling.
But marketing mix models are not infallible either. Retail media provides more data than many traditional channels, but there is still no single perfect view of performance.
There is an old marketing saying that half your advertising budget is wasted, but you do not know which half. Retail media may improve visibility, but it will still take a long time before anyone has a completely accurate picture.
What role should in store media play in the omnichannel customer journey?
In store remains incredibly important because most sales still happen there, even with ecommerce growth and emerging technologies.
Media close to the shelf edge is highly effective because it captures shoppers at the final point of decision making. Brands need both offensive and defensive strategies in store. Yes, you want to generate demand, but you also want to stop competitors stealing the sale at the final moment.
Digital screens are also transforming what is possible creatively in store. Retailers can now run more inspirational and educational content rather than relying entirely on static media.
That could mean recipe led content in grocery or more instructional storytelling in categories like automotive. Increasingly, retailers can bring some of the storytelling power traditionally associated with TV into physical store environments.
Is there a danger that retail media creates too much clutter for consumers?
There is definitely a retail media arms race happening. And many retailers want to demonstrate strong revenues and show they have a leading retail media network.
The danger is that some retailers focus too heavily on monetisation without thinking carefully enough about customer experience or the quality of the propositions they are creating.
Retailers also need to understand their positioning. A luxury retailer like Harrods has to be very careful about advertising because customers expect a curated experience. At the other end of the market, consumers may tolerate a more cluttered experience if they believe they are getting lower prices.
Ultimately, there is no universal approach. The right retail media strategy depends entirely on the retailer, its audience and the experience it wants to create.
