Sophie McDermott is the Senior Retail Media Planning and Sales Manager for the Comms Tech category at John Lewis. Retail Media Age spoke to her for our brand new Unsung Heroes feature, which profiles the people doing some of the crucial hands-on work with retail media campaigns who may be less in the spotlight.
McDermott talks about how she navigates the rapidly-changing timelines of tech launches, the skills she calls on most often in her role, and the metrics that let her build a full picture of how campaigns are delivering.
What is your role, and can you tell us a bit about what you do day-to-day?
I’m the Senior Retail Media Planning and Sales Manager at John Lewis, where I lead retail media strategy for the Comms Tech category. I work with major multi-million pound brands like Samsung and Google, as well as emerging innovators such as Whoop and Oura, to develop and deliver full 360° retail media plans.
My role focuses on driving annual strategies and executing standout product launches that connect brands with our customers in meaningful ways.
How do you work with different parts of the business to achieve your goals? Are there any silos that tend to throw up obstacles to campaign success?
Given my remit, I work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including commercial teams, activation, online trading, and our retail media propositions team, to ensure alignment on key objectives. In the tech space, launch timelines often shift, so I regularly need to adapt and replan campaign activity at pace.
By building strong, collaborative relationships with these teams, we’re able to navigate these changes effectively and still deliver gold-standard launches for our brand partners. Redoing your work isn’t something that anyone enjoys doing but I do get a sense of success when I manage to pull it off.
What are the crucial skillsets for your role? Do you find yourself having to master new skills or technology frequently to stay ahead?
As a senior team member, I approach challenges with a tactful mindset, focusing on solutions and building strong relationships.
I’m naturally candid and confident in speaking up when improvements can be made, something that’s particularly important when working with major tech brands that have clear goals but may need guidance on the most effective way to achieve them via retail media. I think sometimes the objects and KPIs can be blurred, so clearly communicating the strategy is super important.
What’s the one retail media campaign or strategy that you’ve been involved with that you’re most proud of?
I’d highlight leading the exclusive UK launch of Oura as a campaign I’m particularly proud of: partnering with a US-based brand to deliver a full 360° retail media plan tailored to UK customers. The campaign introduced Oura to the UK smart health market and helped establish it as an emerging household name.
Following its success, we collaborated on the John Lewis Christmas TV ad, supported by integrated onsite, offsite, and in-store activations. I have a fantastic working relationship with this brand and from this base we get to work on some great activities to drive success with the partnership.
How do you measure success – and what are your biggest pet peeves when it comes to measurement?
I’d look at success in a few ways. Obviously the data matters – did the campaign actually hit its goals set out by everyone? But I’d also pay attention to things like brand engagement, customer feedback, and how both internal teams and external partners respond. That gives a more rounded view of what worked.
In retail media, data is key; however, I don’t think it’s as simple as success or failure. Success is an important factor and should lead the conversation, but even if something underperforms, there’s usually a lot you can learn from it – which is still a win in the long run. One thing that does frustrate me a bit is how long it can take to see full campaign results. I’m used to fast-moving tech environments, so the slower pace can be an adjustment, but it’s also a reminder to look at early signals before you have the final results.
Read more interviews with leading retail media professionals on Retail Media Age.
