P2PI-May/June 2023

HOW TO WIN AT RETAIL

The

Metaverse

We examine how brands are exploring the Web3 frontier, as virtual 3D worlds are increasingly giving way to true commerce experiences.

40 Under 40 Awards

Editorial Advisory Board

Editor’s Note

From the Trenches of ChatGPT

It was back in January when I had my fi rst encounter with ChatGPT. I had heard its name whispered, had seen a few headlines, since it fi rst launched a month or so earlier. And while I roughly knew the premise behind the service from OpenAI, I had not yet ventured into the AI chatbot’s lair. By the new year, though, industries were quietly starting to hum with chatter about ChatGPT. It was swiftly gaining momentum, with a domino effect trickling across various business sectors as more and more people began to experiment with the AI tool to test its abilities, possible applications and bounds.

And so, by the time January rolled around and marketers, brands and retailers swarmed New York’s Javits Center for NRF’s Big Show, it made perfect sense that the conference’s ultimate small talk/ice breaker was: “Have you heard of ChatGPT?”

I vividly recall being asked that question by an industry colleague as they pulled out their phone to conduct a demo of this freaky new tool. “What shall we ask it?” I paused, not sure how to respond — the possibilities were endless. Finally, though, we settled on something straightforward: “Write me an article about retail media.” I looked on in curiosity as the screen lit up with words and words and words. Mere seconds later, paragraphs populated the whole page. With a discerning editor’s eye, I began to analyze the copy — to my bewilderment, it wasn’t half bad. This thing was both amazing and terrifying.

Fast-forward several months and ChatGPT is part of everyday vernacular now. Generative AI and its impact on businesses is just beginning to be understood, but it marks a decidedly clear fork in the road for the next era of technology and the evolution of many industries as we currently know them.

My own personal employment of ChatGPT has been sparse. I considered asking it to write this month’s column as a little exercise of my own, and sharing the results with you all here, but ultimately decided against that idea (as a writer I just can’t relinquish any words on this page to a chatbot out of principle and perhaps a little pride).

To date, the most useful way I’ve used ChatGPT is to get ideas for trip itineraries. It’s fascinating to see what suggestions it gives you and how those recommendations change based on the details of your prompt (“Keep in mind I like luxury hotels with big bathtubs, fashion, good food and wine.”). But my favorite way I’ve tested ChatGPT is by tasking it with writing short stories with ridiculous prompts — spanning everything from superhero origin stories to “SNL” monologues to mystery feuds between fictional coworkers — to see just how creative this little AI beast could get. (Editor’s note: It’s at this point that I should apologize to my coworkers for making them listen to and read countless ChatGPT creative concoctions. You know who you are, and I’m sorry for wasting so much of your time with this little project of mine!)

So, after many experiments — conducted in the name of research, of course — I’m happy to report that while the stories ChatGPT crafted were quite entertaining (laser beam eyes!), my verdict is that they’ll never take the place of the beautifully written words my human editors use to tell stories on a daily basis. It appears the robots are NOT going to take our jobs after all — well, at least not yet.

8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60631 877.687.7321 www.p2pi.com

BRAND MANAGEMENT

Vice President, Brand Director Eric Savitch esavitch@ensembleiq.com

EDITORIAL

Editorial Director Jessie Dowd jdowd@ensembleiq.com

Executive Editor Tim Binder tbinder@ensembleiq.com

Managing Editor Charlie Menchaca cmenchaca@ensembleiq.com

Digital Editor Jacqueline Barba jbarba@ensembleiq.com

Managing Editor, Member Content Cyndi Loza cloza@ensembleiq.com

Editor, Member Content Heidi Bitsoli hbitsoli@ensembleiq.com

Events Content Director Lori Pugh Marcum lpughmarcum@ensembleiq.com

Contributing Writers Michael Applebaum, Ed Finkel, Erika Flynn, Jenny Rebholz, Bill Schober

ADVERTISING SALES & BUSINESS

Associate Director, Brand Partnerships Arlene Schusteff 847.533.2697, aschusteff@ensembleiq.com

Regional Sales Manager Orlando Llerandi 678.591.8284, ollerandi@ensembleiq.com

MEMBER DEVELOPMENT

Director of Retail Patrycja Malinowska pmalinowska@ensembleiq.com

Sr. Director, Membership Development Nicole Mitchell 203.434.5733, nmitchell@ensembleiq.com

Membership Experience Manager Ann Estey aestey@ensembleiq.com

Manager, Membership Development Brady O’Brien bobrien@ensembleiq.com

Membership Experience Manager Heather Kurtik 724.553.0093, hkurtik@ensembleiq.com

DESIGN/PRODUCTION/MARKETING

Senior Creative Director Colette Magliaro cmagliaro@ensembleiq.com

Art Director Michael Escobedo mescobedo@ensembleiq.com

Production Director Ed Ward eward@ensembleiq.com

Marketing Director Marlene Shaffer mshaffer@ensembleiq.com

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

List Rental mbriganti@anteriad.com

Subscription Questions contact@pathtopurchase.com

CORPORATE OFFICERS

Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Litterick

Chief Financial Officer Jane Volland

Chief People Officer Ann Jadown

Chief Strategy Officer Joe Territo

Executive Vice President, Operations Derek Estey

JESSIE DOWD, Editorial Director

Meet the Marketers

HERE’S A SNAPSHOT OF INDUSTRY LEADERS FROM THE P2PI MEMBER COMMUNITY.

ADRIENNE CZECH GIBBONS Marketing Director Jelmar (CLR Brands)

Main job responsibilities: I work with the marketing team to develop a holistic marketing plan to build and grow both the B2C and B2B businesses. Our strategy and tactical plan development includes promotion of new products, brand-level support and customer-level plans that comply with current brand standards. I manage all outside agency and vendor initiatives in support of the brand’s business objectives — advertising/media efforts, public relations, promotions, market research, website and packaging development and execution. I also am a liaison with international teams in Australia and Canada as needed to ensure consistency of brand strategy and execution globally.

How you win with shoppers during uncertain economic times: We are working hard to pass savings on to consumers at checkout through digital coupons, rebates, temporary price reductions and fuel rebates. Anything that will help consumers feel more comfortable with what they are having to pay to buy our products is very important to us.

New marketing tactic that you use:

The tools may change throughout time and vary by retailer, but the focus is always on the consumer experience — whether in-store or at home. A company

can never go wrong when the consumer is at the center of all initiatives.

Best career advice you’ve received: Go in each day with a positive attitude.

Memorable aha moment in your career: Seeing the value of working for a small- to midsize company that is family-owned. There is more of a real work-life balance. When I speak to others in larger corporate roles, I recognize the value of a culture that allows me to enjoy a breadth of responsibilities and have a true impact.

What you are watching right now: Apple TV+ has some great original content. I love “Shrinking” and of course the third season of “Ted Lasso.”

Recent travels: We did some college visits on the East Coast with my family. We went to Boston for three college visits. While there, we took in a Celtics game, the Red Sox home opener and some of the historic walking tours. We tried to make it fun for the whole family.

MERRI JONES Vice President, Account Services

Thomas J. Paul

Main job responsibilities: I currently manage the Mars Wrigley account. I make sure every project, from simple design to more complex campaigns, is met with incomparable service, insightful strategy and inspired creativity.

How you win with shoppers during uncertain economic times: Candy is a constant. It has been there for consumers in good times and in bad (even more so when bad). It has never been too expensive and is always available. It gives people a smile and a small break from what is going on in this world. If anything, I believe people appreciate the small things in life these days. I think people are realizing they deserve a treat more so than ever.

New marketing tactics that you use: We are always pushing for the next great marketing trend. This year was about showcasing appetite appeal. We want to let the consumer know what’s inside. They might not know they want it until they see it.

Best career advice you’ve received: Work hard because many people don’t. It will set you apart from the rest.

Memorable aha moment in your career: Realizing that when you become an expert in your client’s field, it helps them build their business, your trust and that, ultimately, builds your business.

Recent travels: I took my 16-year-old to Palm Beach, Florida, for her spring break. I want her to see what her life could look like if she works hard and smart. Motivation is key at her age.

Maximizing Retail Media Partnerships

THE THREE KEY FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN WORKING WITH VARIOUS NETWORKS.

BY KIM HATCH

Many B2C brands have started partnering with retail media networks (RMNs) to attract new audiences, enrich fi rst-party data to deliver more personalized customer experiences and earn new sales revenue. Since RMNs are relatively new, you might not be sure how to fully strengthen your partnerships to achieve the best results. We’ll explore the importance of three factors — transparency, control and sales revenue — in working with RMNs. The goal is to provide insights on how to make the most of your partnerships to grow your brand and to offer tips on how to evaluate whether your RMNs are delivering on these main factors.

1.Request transparent metrics for ad performance and research. Ask for clear campaign reporting from your RMN providers to fully assess performance results. After explaining what you require to measure true multi-touch attribution and make key business decisions, request detailed reporting so that you have what you need to be successful. You could ask for daily reporting or request a more detailed breakout of incremental return on ad spend (IROAS) to help inform future media buys. Be specific in what you’re looking for and don’t be afraid to ask for enhancements to your reporting throughout your work with your RMN providers. View it as an equal partnership. If you feel that your RMN providers aren’t offering the transparent reporting you need, it may be time to explore other options.

2.Focus on campaign control, fi rst-party data and targeting capabilities. Share your advertising targets with your RMN providers to ensure you’re both working toward the same goals. Most RMNs are receptive to working with their brand advertisers to develop customized audiences and campaigns that align with business objectives. They may help you fi nd the right target audiences to drive the most incrementality and provide audience targeting campaign advice based on trends within your category. Working with RMNs gives you the ability to ensure your ads are targeted to proven shoppers who’ve already purchased your products or purchased those in a similar category. As RMNs expand beyond a walled garden, many offer their fi rst-party data to purchase from their network to use in your advertising campaigns. This creates more efficiency in your media plans than doing traditional third-party targeting, since you’ll target people who are more receptive to messaging from your brand.

3.Continuously collaborate to drive sales revenue and optimized ROI. Advertising on RMNs involves a premium investment for fi rst-party data and earned sales revenue. By continuously collaborating and communicating with your RMN partners, you can ensure that your advertising investment brings you the most returns. Tell your partner upfront what you expect to see out of your investment: “I’m paying this premium, so I expect to see X results and Y sales.”

After working with an RMN for a time, you can also partner with them in joint business planning efforts specific to investments within their network. Based on your sales results, they’ll advise you on how much spending you should invest in their network. This ensures that you’re investing the right amount of ad dollars — and getting the most optimized ROI. If you feel your current RMN partners aren’t delivering in this area, explore different partners that’ll help you better reach your goals.

Working with the right providers offers mutual partnership opportunities to help grow your brand. By evaluating RMNs based on how well they offer transparency, brand control and increased sales revenue, you can ensure you’ve made the right choice — and grow in ways you never thought possible.

About the Author

Kim Hatch is the senior director of retail media networks at Goodway Group, where she leads and manages the setup of operational functions for managed services for retail media clients. A digital marketer with extensive experience in various industries, including CPG and retail, Hatch focuses on all aspects of programmatic media from execution to managing executive teams.

After explaining what you require to measure true multi-touch attribution and make key business decisions, request detailed reporting so that you have what you need to be successful.

The Debut of Casey’s Access

EXECUTIVE ART SEBASTIAN DISCUSSES STANDING UP A RETAILER MEDIA NETWORK AS WELL AS THE C-STORE CHAIN’S UNIQUE POSITION IN AMERICA’S HEARTLAND.

BY CYNDI LOZA

Through its fuel, coffee, groceries and cult-favorite pizza, Casey’s General Stores has spent the last 55 years growing the business and building shopper loyalty at its now 2,500some convenience stores in Midwest communities across 16 states.

While the Iowa-based retailer has had its share of wins — including becoming a Fortune 500 company as well as America’s third-largest c-store chain and fifth-largest pizza chain — it’s the future that has Casey’s executives preoccupied.

“We had this reflection period where as a leadership team we looked ourselves in the mirror and we asked the big question: How do we remain relevant for the next 50 years?” says Art Sebastian, vice president, omnichannel marketing, at Casey’s. “We told ourselves that, in the next couple years here, we need to be bigger, bolder and more contemporary.”

In May, Casey’s debuted its retailer media network, Casey’s Access, which lets CPG brand companies leverage the retailer’s shopper data to deliver relevant promotions, offers and marketing content across digital and in-store touchpoints. The retailer partnered with its first brand in February as part of a plan to build case studies to share with the industry, and it invited three brands to participate as beta partners in May, during which it has provided white-glove service. The network is rolling out to all brands in July.

“The advertising landscape is ever-evolving,” Sebastian says. “We know the challenges of reaching consumers will continue to increase in the coming years. We also know our [shoppers] and brand partners are seeking a deeper, more personalized experience, and we feel strongly that this is what Casey’s Access will provide.”

The network’s launch is a continuation of the retailer’s “digital transformation” initiative, Sebastian says. Casey’s spent the last four years establishing its technology stack, building an API-first approach, growing and enriching its first-party data, and developing its digital experiences and touchpoints.

“What I led when I first joined the company is an assessment of where we stood relative to digital experiences, and I can tell you we had none, or the ones that we had were not that great,” recalls Sebastian, who joined the c-store chain in 2018 after previously working at Meijer, IRI and Kraft Heinz. “They were like white-label applications, and they just weren’t that good.”

Casey’s now partners with SAP for e-commerce, Salesforce for marketing technology and MuleSoft for APIs. The retailer also enlists CitrusAd for on-site media, LiveRamp and The Trade Desk to activate off-site, and IRI for closed-loop reporting.

Implementing the technology, connecting the systems and setting up the company to be future-proof via this API-led approach was a big job, explains Sebastian. Also significant is the work that went into bolstering the company’s first-party data, which Sebastian says he was “obsessed with.” Since he joined, Casey’s database has grown from 300,000 records to 14 million.

“It’s not the biggest database, but we’ve come a long way in terms of growth,” Sebastian says. “What I love about what we set up is it’s organized, it’s unified, [and] it’s very clean because I essentially built it from the bottom up.”

Having spent 20 years working in grocery, Sebastian says the c-store chain presents a unique opportunity for brand advertisers. In his experience working at other companies, they were thrilled to see shoppers every 7-10 days. Casey’s, on the other hand, has more than 80 million monthly shoppers in its stores, mobile app and website, and its best shoppers visit stores more than five times a week.

“Our ads are in close proximity to when those best guests are in the store,” Sebastian says. “See ad Tuesday, shop Wednesday, see another ad Wednesday, I’m shopping Thursday. In the grocery space, see an ad Tuesday, forget about the ad Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, [and] Sunday maybe shop.”

The Casey’s Access ad solutions will reach active, highly engaged shoppers on owned and operated digital channels, including on-site display, sponsored products, sponsored search, email, SMS, app push, in-app messaging, app takeovers and dedicated brand pages. On-premise opportunities include fuel pump screens, digital menu boards, point-of-sale pin pads, self-checkout and coffee screens. The network will also activate through off-site channels, including paid social and programmatic digital media.

“[Our shoppers] rely on Casey’s for food, for milk, for bread, and it really is special,” Sebastian says. “We won’t ever be the biggest. I’m not delusional about that, but I think if we can build this really special bond, if we could build a relationship with guests based on everyday moments — you start your morning with coffee, you feed your family a pizza ... we’ve created an ecosystem [where] brands can also tap in to those relationships all powered by data.”

Sneak Peek

HERE’S THE INSIDE SCOOP ON WHAT TO EXPECT AT RETAIL MEDIA SUMMIT, JUNE 27-30 IN CHICAGO.

Keynote Speakers

On the main stage, sponsored by Kroger Precision Marketing.

Wednesday, June 28:

• Andrea Leigh, founder and CEO of Allume Group, will examine the complicated space of retail media. She’ll discuss retail media current events, trends and predictions, while also walking attendees through her company’s M.E.D.I.A. framework for retail media success.

Thursday, June 29:

• Advisor, educator and consultant Colin Lewis of RetailMedia.Works, will draw from historical trends — as well as research from the U.S. and around the world — to show how both brands and retailers can navigate their way into a different world that will benefit both parties, rather than continue the often-adversarial nature of buyer-supplier relationships.

Additional sessions in the conference lineup will explore:

• How to organize, budget and measure success

• Retail media data

• The role of retail media in physical stores

• Privacy compliant personalization, and more

Retail Media Awards Ceremony & Reception

From 4:45 p.m.-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 28, the Path to Purchase Institute will honor the inaugural recipients of its Retail Media Awards, which recognize 25 commerce marketers who are pioneering retail media. This awards ceremony and reception will shine the spotlight on innovative leaders across brands, retailers, agencies and solutions providers who are effectively leveraging or helping others leverage retail media for successful digital and omnichannel campaigns.

Networking

Mingle with like-minded professionals throughout the event, both during designated networking breaks between sessions, as well as during a dedicated reception open to all attendees at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 29.

Retail Media Guild Meeting

Members of P2PI’s Retail Media Guild will meet for a roundtable discussion and masterclass, plus an exclusive networking dinner on June 28, followed by a workshop conducted in collaboration with IAB on retail media measurement standards on June 29. For more info on joining the Retail Media Guild, reach out to VP and Brand Director Eric Savitch at esavitch@ensembleiq.com.

Path to Purchase Institute Connect

An exclusive retail media-dedicated brand and solution provider event takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 27-28. This event offers a series of 20-minute private in-person meetings, designed like corporate speed-dating. Meeting hosts and guests are predetermined. No drop-ins.

EVENT REGISTRATION

For more information, including the complete agenda, and to register, scan this code.

Beauty Trends and Beyond

THE NPD GROUP SHARES INSIGHTS INTO THE BOOMING PRESTIGE BEAUTY CATEGORY, OTHERS LOOK CLOSELY AT THE BUYING MINDSET AND HABITS OF THE SUSTAINABLY CONSCIOUS AND … THE DRUNK.

BY JACQUELINE BARBA

Beauty Trends

The prestige beauty industry is growing, and younger consumers are willing to spend on super-premium products. In 2022, U.S. prestige beauty (i.e., skincare, haircare, fragrance and makeup) sales revenue grew 15%, year over year, to reach $27.1 billion, according to data from The NPD Group.

• Makeup contributed the most sales revenue gains of all the prestige beauty categories.

• Lip products were the fastest-growing segment in makeup, with lip gloss outperforming lipstick.

• In skincare, body products grew at more than three times the rate of facial products.

• Hair was the smallest, yet fastest-growing, beauty category, led by masks and targeted treatments.

• Prestige beauty saw a greater shift back to stores in 2022, while online sales share increased in the mass market.

A trends report by business journalist Dan Frommer, also titled “The New Consumer,” indicated that “in-store” is still the most common way to discover beauty products across generations. However, “in-store” is closely followed by TikTok and YouTube for Gen Z. For Millennials and older shoppers, the “in-store” option is (not so closely) followed by “friends,” “brand websites” and other online sources.

86%of shoppers are willing to delay deliveries for sustainability, if incentivized

Of this group, the duration they are willing to wait...

Shopping While Drunk

One in six (14%) Americans, or 45 million, shopped under the influence of alcohol in 2022, spending $309 a year each and $14 billion collectively on tipsy purchases, according to Finder’s annual “Drunk Shopping” survey. The most common purchases include shoes, clothing or accessories, food, alcohol and gambling. Other key takeaways from the study, which polled 2,179 Americans from January through February regarding the 12 months prior, include:

• Fewer women are shopping under the influence (10%) than men (26%).

• Millennials drink and shop most often (33%), followed by Gen Z (28%) — both most commonly purchasing shoes, clothing and accessories.

• Only 2% of Baby Boomers admitted to shopping under the influence.

• Food was the top choice for Boomers at 45%, while Gen X spent the most on alcohol at 45%.

What did you buy while under the influence?

Source: Blue Yonder, 2023 Consumer Sustainability Survey

Shoppers are most likely to switch loyalty for food, household, and beauty & wellness products

Sustainability Mindsets

Recent research from American software and consultancy company Blue Yonder found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a noticeable impact on consumer sustainability habits. Nearly half of consumers surveyed said their interest in shopping sustainably increased since the start of the pandemic.

• Most consumers are willing to delay deliveries if it’s more sustainable.

• 64% are willing to spend more on sustainable packaging.

• 77% considered or changed their brand loyalty to sustainable brands.

• Shoppers are most likely to switch loyalty for food, household, and beauty and wellness products.

• Price is the most important factor for shoppers when making a sustainable purchase.

• When evaluating the sustainability of a company’s product, 32% said consumer reviews were the most important factor.

• Social media has influenced 52% of consumers’ sustainable shopping frequency, with Facebook and Instagram having the biggest influence.

The Plant-Based Food Wave

BETTER-FOR-YOU ITEMS ARE GAINING POPULARITY AND ACTIVATING IN VARIOUS WAYS AT RETAIL.

BY CHARLIE MENCHACA

If it seems like a new plant-based food item is popping up during every shopping trip, that’s because it’s not far from the truth.

The Hershey Co. this spring began a nationwide launch of Hershey’s and Reese’s plant-based items. The company ran an earned media campaign sending press releases to traditional syndication networks and relevant food and diet publications to announce the launch to vegan- and plant-based-curious consumers, says Andrew Taggart, Hershey’s senior associate brand manager for Better For You baking.

Sample product and media kits were distributed to select publications and influencers who focus on vegan and plant-based content. The effort resulted in more than 7 billion impressions, more than 6,000 placements and 99% positive/neutral sentiment, he says. A digital-forward campaign began this June allowing Hershey to reach core plant-based consumers through interest and purchase behavior targeting.

“With new products and niche categories, it’s important to be mindful about distribution,” Taggart says. “So our efforts are focused on key geographies where our product will be available to avid consumers. Retailers are key to our success, so we incorporate strategic partners for these launches as well.”

Planet Based Foods this year expanded distribution to Kroger banners Fred Meyer, Mariano’s, Ralphs, Smith’s and other retailers. The company collaborated with college athletes throughout the western U.S. to promote its taquitos and burgers as part of a plantbased diet. The brand encouraged the athletes to showcase the products through buying the product in-store, cooking and eating alone or with friends. The marketing campaign primarily utilized Instagram, incorporating both paid and organic content to reach new audiences.

“Paid and organic social media has been our main driver for digital marketing thus far on the consumer side,” says Braelyn Davis, CEO and co-founder of Planet Based Foods. “Couponing and discounting is a marketing strategy we are also working on. [It’s a] great way to incentivize our customers even further.”

Saputo USA expanded distribution of its Vitalite

plant-based cheese to 5,000 U.S. retailers so far this year, including Albertsons Cos.’ Acme and Safeway as well as Kroger’s Harris Teeter. The vegan-certified, dairy-free product line launched in 2022 and already was available at other retailers such as Giant Eagle, Key Foods and ShopRite.

Support for the ongoing retail expansion included robust integrated marketing with digital video and display, paid search and streaming audio buys within regional markets, says David Cherrie, vice president, marketing and innovation, at Saputo USA. Paid and organic social content, along with earned media and celebrity spokesperson support, brought added brand awareness.

Shopper marketing efforts with nearly a dozen targeted retailers included coupons, in-store shelf advertising, print and digital circular ads, e-newsletter placements and retail-focused influencer partner content on social, Cherrie says.

Oreo Codes Launch at Albertsons

TECHNOLOGY CONNECTS MONDELEZ’S COOKIE BRAND TO ANY MILK ITEM IN AN INNOVATIVE WAY.

BY CHARLIE MENCHACA

Mondelez International this spring rolled out a testand-learn program uniting its Oreo brand with an unofficial, longtime collaborator — milk.

The Oreo Codes campaign centers on scanning milk bar codes for future savings on both the cookies and dairy item. The campaign began in late April and continued through May, exclusive to Albertsons Cos., says Anne Martin, director, shopper marketing, at Mondelez.

Even as Oreo maintains a 99% brand awareness nationwide, the opportunity to encourage incremental purchase occasions — while staying true to its playful side — remains a priority for the brand. Oreo Codes allow shoppers to turn the blackand-white bar codes on any milk SKU into an interactive experience reminding them that milk can be paired with Oreo cookies. The custom-built feature was developed by Mondelez agency partner VMLY&R Commerce.

“This idea marries technology and creativity in a way that drives memorable engagement for consumers with their beloved Oreo brand,” said Manuel Borde, global chief creative officer at VMLY&R Commerce, in a media release.

A P2PI editor recently visited OreoCodes.com on a mobile device. An Oreo-branded scanner within the site was used to scan the barcode from a gallon of milk in the editor’s refrigerator. After a brief animation depicted an Oreo cookie dunking into milk, a prompt appeared to tap on one of three Albertsons banner logos for an offer. Each logo linked to an Albertsons for U loyalty program-branded offer within the retailer’s website — offering 50 cents off the purchase of two family-size Oreo packs and any milk item on the same receipt.

To drive awareness of the campaign, Mondelez ran off-site and on-site media with Albertsons Media Collective. The ads on the retailer media network were focused on driving traffic and subsequent purchase of Oreo cookies on Albertsons.com. The campaign was also supported by an influencer strategy educating consumers on how to scan their milk carton to unlock savings, along with out-of-home media.

“Our digital out-of-home ads are specifically targeted around Jewel-Osco stores in and around the Chicago area,” Martin says. Venues where the static and animated ads appear include entertainment, transit, fi nancial institutions, retail, offices, residential and hotels.

“Given the (positive) feedback and reactions we’ve received from the campaign, there is potential to scale it in the future,” Martin says.

This idea marries technology and creativity in a way that drives memorable engagement for consumers with their beloved Oreo brand.

— Manuel Borde, VMLY&R Commerce

Inspired Cannabis’ ‘House of Brands’

A NEW CONCEPT STORE IN VANCOUVER PROVIDES CANADIAN BRANDS A UNIQUE SPACE TO TELL THEIR STORY.

BY JACQUELINE BARBA

Inspired Cannabis is a family-owned retail business with more than a dozen dispensaries serving cannabis consumers across Canada. The company expanded its retail footprint in British Columbia this year with the opening of an immersive art gallery-like dispensary in Vancouver’s bustling Robson Street shopping district — which apparently sees foot traffic of more than 50,000 people a day.

The Path to Purchase Institute talked with one of Inspired Cannabis’ co-founders about the new location (its seventh in British Columbia) and received a first look inside the colorful store.

Located at 1032 Robson St., Inspired Cannabis’ “House of Brands” gallery concept opened in early March. In an effort to differentiate this location from other dispensaries and its own nearby stores, House of Brands is clearly communicated on the outside of the store, giving off an old Hollywood-esque look. Upon entering, however, the aesthetic boasts a flush of bright color, designs reminiscent of street art and commanding branded vignettes/display installations that showcase products from top Canadian cannabis brands behind glass cases.

Jesse Dhami, co-founder of Inspired Cannabis, says the goal of the House of Brands concept is to provide Canadian brands a unique space to tell their brand story to the public. “As the legal cannabis industry is still young and highly regulated, it is difficult for brands to communicate their message in traditional dispensaries,” Dhami says. “Navigating through the [House of Brands] gallery, shoppers can learn and experience the history, cultivation, technical details, creative aspects and influence of various leading cannabis brands. In some cases, these experiences are 4D.”

Not all the vignettes employ the same level of eyepopping color, however, and each display offers its own creative. Simply Bare Organic by Rubicon Organics, for example, opted for a warmer-toned minimalistic look for its space, while Organigram’s Shred brand offered a colorful graffiti-like aesthetic and Cronos’ Spinach cannabis opted for a funky retro-themed vignette that was relatively larger than many of the other brands.

Spinach’s designated space also notably includes a branded vending machine with a large touchscreen that dispenses free samples of its Chill Bliss gummies in the pineapple starfruit flavor.

Dhami reveals that Inspired Cannabis let the brands take the lead on the creative direction for their own installations. “We gave a lot of freedom to participating licensed producers to express their brands in unique and impactful ways,” he says. “Consumers engage with installations that are educational, experiential and, most importantly, fun.”

One noteworthy installation is from Entourage Health’s Color Cannabis brand, which offers no shortage of color in its products or design, making it a particularly perfect fit for the House of Brands concept. The brand uses a 3D multicolored vignette encouraging shoppers to “Just add color” with its products, which are inspired by “the full colour spectrum of feels,” according to the display’s messaging. It also includes a touchscreen for shoppers to explore and learn about the product in greater depth.

Dhami says the cannabis company took advantage of the store’s existing design elements, such as the 18-foot ceilings and exposed brick, and incorporated a “modern aesthetic using height, angles, glass and creative lighting to make the space feel fresh and exciting.”

Inspired Cannabis has 16 stores nationwide, with seven locations in British Columbia, two in Saskatchewan and seven in Ontario — all offering a curated range of cannabis products. Continued growth is expected in 2023, with additional stores to be announced in the coming months.

Introducing the 2023 Class of the Path to Purchase Institute’s

We are proud to shine the spotlight on P2PI’s second annual list of winners. This talented group of rising leaders, nominated by their industry peers and selected by our editors, is driving the future of commerce marketing. Learn more about these impressive individuals on the following pages.

Samantha Anjos Associate Manager, Emerging Channels and Marketplace Bayer Age 30

Anjos started working in the CVS Health corporate offices at the age of 14 as an intern. She went on to hold three different roles within the ExtraCare loyalty program during the next eight years. She joined Bayer in 2018, and her experiences since have spanned across analytical, marketing and sales roles. In May 2022, she transitioned from the traditional brick-and-mortar space into e-commerce and assumed her current role. Anjos thrives on meeting new challenges, independent work, truly improving consumers’ lives and working in collaboration with her colleagues. In the last year, she helped establish enhanced partnerships at a strategic level, which have unlocked both category captainship and first-ever data breakouts to enable deeper analytics that optimize ongoing investments. She also cocreated and led an internal share group that seeks to drive development opportunities, collaboration and best practices with colleagues at a similar level, while also breaking down barriers between senior leadership and junior talent. Anjos has been the recipient of individual and team awards at Bayer, and has simultaneously balanced a home purchase, a move and wedding planning on top of attending — and participating in — more than seven weddings.

FUN FACT: Anjos has been a beekeeper as a hobby. She looks forward to returning to it soon.

Amy Avellar Director, Customer Marketing SmartyPants Vitamins

Age 32

Avellar joined SmartyPants Vitamins in August 2020 to build out the shopper marketing vertical — prior to the brand’s acquisition by Unilever. She has since restructured investment strategy, built planning processes, and developed new communication procedures to effectively wire teams together and drive business results. She has made a tremendous impact on the SmartyPants business over the past year, driving demonstrable sales growth and gaining recognition for its shopper marketing function across Unilever’s Health & Wellbeing Collective. She has also developed and launched KPIdriven shopper marketing initiatives that resulted in SmartyPants’ highestever gains in national awareness — and double-digit year-over-year revenue growth at targeted accounts. Most recently, Avellar led the creation of SmartyPants’ non-traditional Expo West 2023 booth activation, called “Zero Booth for Zero Grams of Sugar.” Challenged to create a memorable activation that would build anticipation around the launch of the brand’s new sugar-free multivitamin range, she and her team’s innovative approach garnered high consumer and industry engagement. Avellar was recognized by her colleagues as the first “SmartyPants Superstar” award winner last year, honoring her contributions to business growth and commitment for going above and beyond to create a positive impact within the organization.

FUN FACT: Avellar started working at 18 months old. Her first job was acting, starring in a commercial for Little Debbie snacks.

Amanda Bailey

Executive Vice President, Client Engagement

VMLY&R Commerce

Age 35

Bailey has worked in the commerce space for more than 13 years, helping companies win more than 20 industry awards. She has worked on more than 300 brands and across every major retailer/ platform, and has led retailer teams as well as integrated agency teams from a brand perspective as the agency of record. Bailey has been an integration lead across e-commerce and omnichannel. She has also worked in strategy, project management and client engagement/ account at Saatchi & Saatchi X, IN Marketing and, since August 2020, VMLY&R Commerce. Over the last year, her work with the agency’s CPG clients has included driving innovation through integrated experience-led planning, building brave creative ideas, designing new and integrated retail media capabilities, and evolving bespoke operating system (OS) platforms. She is most proud of having reached more than 800 people to date (300 of them college students) with a personal branding immersion that she leads. It helps people uncover their “why” and develop their user manual while also contributing to the agency’s innovation and growth in retail media.

FUN FACT: Bailey had three imaginary friends when she was little.

Carolina Bethencourt

Customer Marketing Manager

Bacardi USA

Age 35

Bethencourt supports all of Bacardi’s below-the-line programming in the large liquor and club channel, as well as in “control states.” She leads a diverse set of portfolio programs that are sometimes cocktailforward, sometimes occasion-forward, and she assists the digital/omnichannel transformation of the company’s largest retail partners. Bethencourt has a deep understanding of the BevAlc go-tomarket strategy, brand management, the path to purchase, agency and account management. She also leads the development of value-added packs, setting up regional/national sweepstakes leveraging some of Bacardi USA’s sponsorships, including Live Nation and major-league sports teams. She also designs display structures for its brands, managing partnerships or sampling program executions. In the past year alone, Bethencourt has helped secure coveted display programs at Total Wine & More for Bacardi brands by working with shopper agencies to create pieces that were engaging, educational and enticing. In the process, Bacardi helped grow positive customer relations and rate of sale, propelling it to be one of the top three spirit suppliers. She has also built the commercialization launch plan, including tools and digital toolkits for the new Grey Goose Classic Martini Cocktail innovation, and created and executed the Old Fashioned Program — a 360-degree shopper program aimed at driving education and sales of participating brands. During the program period, she and her team helped grow return on sales (ROS) by more than 26%, outpacing overall spirits by more than 17%.

FUN FACT: Originally from Brazil, Bethencourt speaks three languages fluently. She loves the beach, playing golf and spending time with her two baby girls.

Emily Bibeault E-Commerce Director

Campari Age 34

Bibeault oversees strategy, planning and programming across Campari’s portfolio of brands, focusing on driving growth in marketplaces, omnichannel and emerging sub-channels. Prior to joining the company in October 2021, she had worked in the BevAlc space for more than seven years, both on the brand and agency side. She has extensive media agency experience, rooted in resultsdriven digital, social and performance media across a variety of verticals. Over the past year, she has led efforts to support Aperol’s experiential footprint at music festivals. Aperol partnered with Uber Ads and Drizly for a first-to-market e-commerce activation, engaging festival-goers via Uber Ride Share Ads to “Bring the Festival Home” by ordering Aperol on Drizly. Festival-goers were also encouraged to sign up for Aperol’s CRM program with a discount code for Drizly delivery on-site at the festivals. The full-funnel commerce program contributed to significant year-over-year sales lifts on Drizly. Bibeault was also instrumental in creating Negroni Sbagliato digital assets to activate programming across top delivery marketplaces like Drizly and Instacart, B2B promotion to drive online ordering with retail customers, and a custom Sbagliato Cocktail kit to recreate the viral moment at home — programming that contributed to double-digit growth for the brand online. Bibeault says she is most proud of the impact e-commerce efforts have had on the growth of the Campari portfolio of brands.

FUN FACT: Despite living in New York for more than 10 years, Bibeault is still an avid Boston sports fan with a goal of seeing the New England Patriots play in every NFL stadium. She is one-third of the way there.

Kevin P. Brooks Omnichannel Partnership Manager Giant Food Age 30

Brooks has been at Giant Food for more than two years, planning, executing and measuring all of the retailer’s onsite ad tactics — including homepage, browse, search and digital impulse opportunities — as the primary contact for the CPG community. Promoted to his current role last year, he has had the opportunity to connect some of Giant Food’s more traditional in-store ad tactics (including print circular and display) with its on-site experience to create a true omnichannel shopping experience for customers. This past year, he also led the implementation of scale Ahold Delhaize USA shopper marketing programs at Giant Food, developed multiple omnichannel shopper marketing bundles with first- and third-party ad tactics, and created ad campaigns centered around e-commerce exclusive offers to drive digital engagement and e-commerce penetration. He is most proud of earning a top-10 ranking in all digital and e-commerce competencies in the most recent Advantage industry survey, and having led the charge to double Giant Food’s CPG investment in e-commerce ad tactics year over year. Previously, Brooks worked at Under Armour in a variety of roles within the company’s e-commerce business, and also spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders and USC Trojans football teams.

FUN FACT: Brooks lived in Israel for six months.

Elizabeth Buffum Senior Manager, Retail Marketing Mattel Age 39

A member of Mattel’s customer and retail marketing teams for nearly eight years, Buffum was most recently a key member of the Fisher-Price Online Task Force — a team that identified and addressed gaps in the company’s strategy, resulting in share gains in online infant preschool sales in 2022. This past year, she has also worked to refine its retail media strategy, making the company’s spend more effective and efficient as the team focused on long-term priority items. She also analyzed and defined a new promotional strategy to drive both immediate sales and long-term growth. Her work included testing and implementing virtual bundle and variation strategies to improve organic search ranking and grow basket size, and leading efforts to increase conversion rates on key items that are underperforming benchmarks. She is most proud of driving collaboration between internal Mattel teams to develop actionable insights from the wealth of data Amazon provides. Buffum joined Mattel in June 2015 after working at Accenture, accounting firm Grant Thornton and Taco Bell.

FUN FACT: She once won a trip to the Super Bowl in a raffle.

Maggie Castaldo Omnichannel Category Manager Nestle Purina

Age 30

Castaldo’s priorities include elevating the importance of the pet category with retailers, leading omnichannel strategy and preparing Purina for the next wave of commerce. This past year, she led a project focusing on omnichannel research and strategies to influence the future of pet shopping, while also leading the efforts to create an e-commerce scorecard for omnichannel excellence. She also developed a POV on retail trends for executive leadership and led custom research on the direct-to-consumer pet sector, personal shopper and emerging retail capabilities in the pet category to prepare Purina for the next wave of connected commerce. Castaldo has also led the company’s Race and Ethnicity DE&I workstream, helping build belonging and educating people on cultural awareness. In her first year with the company, she received the DE&I Ambassador award and DE&I Workstream Leadership award. Castaldo is a trilingual marketer who is passionate about improving consumers’ lives, future-proofing businesses and developing talents. She has also worked at Nielsen BASES. Prior to joining Purina, she also spent time at Unilever.

FUN FACT: Castaldo is currently completing her 200-hour yoga instructor training. If you think she’s an Enneagram 3 (the achiever), you are absolutely right!

Barbara

Connors Vice President, Strategy & Acceleration 84.51 Age 37

Connors leads commercial solutions, industry engagement, thought leadership and marketing for 84.51’s insights business. She also heads up the company’s merchandising collaboration team, focusing on driving strategic alignment between Kroger’s priorities and those of 84.51’s more than 1,400 clients. With Dunnhumby USA for seven years and 84.51 the past eight years, she has consulted with both merchandising and CPGs across several retailers, including sectors such as home improvement, fashion and grocery. She led brand media solutions at Dunnhumby USA and the inception of 84.51’s retail media business as well as its Commercial Insights team before transitioning into her current role in September 2022. Connors led the launch and scale of insights innovation that empowers CPGs and agencies to win in the omnichannel world, including clickstream Insights, 84.51 In-Queries (a self-serve consumer research platform) and 84.51 Collaborative Cloud (an insights platform designed for data scientists). She also sits on the SIMA (Shopper Insights Management Association) board and supports 84.51 enterprise culture through leadership positions on its culture council; diversity, equity and inclusion council; and ITOPiA, an associate group that empowers introverts.

FUN FACT: Connors went to high school in Saudi Arabia.

Cristina Costa Senior Sales Director, CPG Aki Technologies, an Inmar Intelligence Company Age 34

Costa’s impact on the company’s business over the past year has secured her a spot in parent company Inmar Intelligence’s “President’s Club,” which recognizes the topperforming sales representatives. She is one of the first people from Aki to receive this honor, which she earned by creating meaningful and highly collaborative relationships with her clients. She also set the largest growth record in Aki history. Costa is a seasoned commerce marketing leader with more than 13 years of experience working in the digital advertising space, both on the technology provider and brand sides. She creates strategic programs for her CPG and BevAlc partners. Prior to Aki, she worked at both

Sean Crawford Managing Director Threefold Age 33

Crawford joined Threefold with just 30 people on its staff, and he was charged with setting up British supermarket Sainsbury’s retail media network, as well as networks for pure play e-commerce department store The Very Group and nursery specialist Mothercare. He then was tapped to run Threefold’s media buying agency, Capture, where he has grown relationships with media, adtech and martech partners, leading a team of commerce experts to advise the agency group’s CPG clients on how best to plan, buy, manage and evaluate their commerce media across multiple retail media networks. Now with more than 250 retail media experts across six U.K. cities and operating five retail media networks in the U.K., Crawford says he is most proud of being promoted in October 2022 to his current post, charged with leading the group’s international expansion into the U.S. In the past year, he has reimagined media buying for the agency group by in-housing media buying operations, resulting in the ability to directly optimize targeting, performance and profitability of CPG clients’ commerce media spend. He also led a team to deliver the biggest ad revenue month ever recorded for the agency group, while also surpassing financial targets in three consecutive periods, resulting in double-digit year-over-year growth for the agency.

FUN FACT: Crawford trained with the U.K.’s Royal Air Force and has flown an aircraft solo.

Ashley Dawson

Trade and Shopper Marketing Manager Earth Friendly Products (ECOS)

Age 34

While in college, Dawson began her career working for ECOS on the weekends. From selling the company’s laundry detergent at Sam’s Club, she took a full-time sales position in Southern California upon graduation and has been there ever since. During that time, she has supported the sales team’s efforts to facilitate sell-in and deepen relationships with customers. She has also worked on shopper marketing programs to drive pull-through to ensure that existing and new distribution sticks. And, most recently, she became a proficient analyst, providing thorough reports to strategy teams to inform and influence key business decisions. Some of her work includes providing key insights related to pricing and downsizing in the competitive landscape amidst increasing inflationary pressures, which helped the company make the best decisions possible for its own size and price offerings. She has also leveraged data to develop powerful selling stories that helped the sales team garner new distribution at key retailers like BJs and Walmart; and played an instrumental role partnering with its innovation team to commercialize key new product launches.

FUN FACT: Dawson competed in a powerlifting competition for the first time last December and won a gold medal in her event category.

ad tech companies and shopper marketing agencies, as well as on the e-commerce team at Diageo, where she deepened her expertise of the BevAlc space. She is a member of P2PI’s BACi share group. Two of her award-winning programs include Stacy’s Chips campaign, which won two Platinum MarCom Awards and

an AVA Digital Award, and her Crown Royal campaign, which garnered both a Communicator Award and a Stevie’s Award.

FUN FACT: Costa has been a fitness instructor for more than 10 years, teaching Zumba, Pound and other cardio sculpting classes.

ASHLEY DAWSON

Path To Purchase Institute 2023 40 Under 40 Award Winner

Congratulations

Deanna Depke Marketing Manager Volpi Foods

Age

30

Depke is a fourth-generation member of the Volpi Foods family, having joined the growing company in 2015. Key highlights of her tenure include leading a national sports sponsorship program, repositioning the brand to leverage market whitespace, and expanding retailer relationships to bring the Volpi brand into more than 3,000 new store locations. She has played a key role in the revitalization of a 120-year-old brand with a focus on authentic charcuterie, made and packaged responsibly. In 2022, Volpi Foods celebrated its 120th anniversary via an omnichannel campaign touting the history, authenticity and commitment to quality the family-owned company has maintained for more than a century, which was an undertaking she is particularly proud of. On the personal side, in January 2023, she became a mother to a baby girl.

FUN FACT: If there’s a party, Depke is bringing the charcuterie board.

Aliza Fazal Omnichannel Manager Bimbo Bakeries USA Age 34

Fazal has served as the omnichannel manager for Bimbo Bakeries since May 2021. In that time, she has effectively developed the company’s fragmented portfolio of e-commerce business into a growth channel. She has also built strong relationships with industry-wide retail media networks in an effort to execute truly omnichannel programs tailored to the customer’s experience.

Fazal is proud of the work she has done to expand her personal expertise of lower-funnel digital marketing further through test-and-learns, self-teaching and courses, which she has been able to apply to the Bimbo Bakeries business to create omnichannel excellence. Fazal began her career as a purchasing manager at Lidl U.S. and also spent just under five years at Puratos U.S. in project management, marketing and e-commerce.

FUN FACT: Fazal’s dream vacation is to spend a few months traveling the entirety of Japan; she is fascinated by the history, cuisine, culture and technology.

Megan Ford National Director – Commerce Marketing E. & J. Gallo Winery Age 39

Ford is responsible for helping consumers find, buy and enjoy Gallo’s more than 100 wine, spirits and ready-to-drink brands in retail, on-premise and online. She leads her team to deliver on the company’s purpose: to serve enjoyment in moments that matter. Ford points to taking over leadership of Gallo’s national commerce marketing organization as a highlight in the past year. Through this role, she has developed an omnichannel approach to brand-led programming, bringing a new level of objectivity to commercial marketing activities by driving end-to-end accountability,

Drew Frost Director, Retail Media Ad Operations Lowe’s Age 32

Frost joined Lowe’s in June 2022 and has been instrumental in launching the Lowe’s One Roof Media Network, which has helped the retail media business rapidly transform from a retail media startup into a power player. In the past year, he oversaw the three-fold growth of Lowe’s One Roof Media Network’s retail media team, which he is most proud of, since it went from a few individuals to a well-oiled selfsustaining department. He activated a robust partner ecosystem that includes Yahoo, Criteo and Pinterest. He also introduced more than 12 new ad formats; developed and enhanced an unparalleled operational tech stack; and designed and introduced best-in-class, fullfunnel advertising technology solutions aligned with the needs of Lowe’s brand partners. Before his time at Lowe’s, Frost spent nine years at Sam’s Club and Walmart. He held various roles in product and performance marketing, and became an app marketing and marketing technology expert. While there, he created the go-to-market strategy for multiple apps, developed the marketing technology stack for the performance marketing team, and launched the go-to-market marketing plans for new services, such as club pickup, free shipping, delivery and other member benefits.

FUN FACT: Frost is a barbecue enthusiast. He has been known to drive or fly several hours to try a region’s new or must-try barbecue restaurant. He has also been a judge in both regional and national barbecue competitions.

pioneering new means of measurement/KPIs for her practice, and launching a new path to purchase platform that capitalized on Barefoot’s partnership with the NFL. She is most proud of her efforts in operationalizing E. & J. Gallo’s Shopper Vision (its BevAlc end-to-end path to purchase insights platform), resulting in more innovative insights-based customer programs. Ford leverages her breadth of experience from prior roles in finance, sales strategy and marketing in order to solve complex problems, build strategic capabilities and develop highperforming teams. Prior to joining Gallo in 2009, she worked at Deloitte. She currently serves on the Alumni Board at her high school and is chair of fundraising for an early education center for families in need.

FUN FACT: Ford lived in Budapest, Hungary, for a year.

Michael Garcia Senior Sales Director –Target Team

Procter & Gamble Age 37

Garcia has more than a decade of experience in the CPG industry. At P&G, he leads the digital commerce strategy across all of the company’s categories while forging innovation in this space in partnership with his customer, Target. In the past year, he created a foundational training repository that covers key digital topics around search, content and availability to provide insight to both P&G and his customer, as well as a digital knowledge forum to help educate the P&G team and raise the capability of every role/function in this space. These forums inspire the broader organization to think deeper about digital and the possibilities for the future. Garcia started with the company in retail merchandising in 2008. During his 15-year tenure, he has gained experience in marketing, sales and digital across club and drug channels as well as mass retailers. Garcia is an active volunteer and serves as the communications officer for NextUp Twin Cities. He also is a marketing advisory board member for the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business at Clemson University, and a board member for InspireMSP.

FUN FACT: Garcia has visited more than 50 countries around the world.

Jehan Hamedi Founder & CEO

Vizit Age 33

Hamedi began his career as a senior researcher at the AIpowered consumer insights firm Crimson Hexagon and eventually led its growth and innovation team. While there, he helped scale the company’s commercial operations from $2.5 million to more than $15 million in revenue within two years. In 2014, he launched a market research & AI consultancy with an R&D lab focused on developing proprietary AI software that mines large-scale datasets to understand public opinion across major social networks and websites. Adhark’s AI innovations led to what would eventually become his current company, Vizit. The company recently announced a $10 million Series A funding round to fuel growth and help e-commerce, marketing and creative teams win consumers’ attention through its Visual Brand Performance Platform. Brands and retailers are using Vizit to maximize consumer attention and conversion by optimizing the digital images used in commerce, and the company now works with dozens of the world’s leading brands, including Mars, General Mills, Unilever, Panasonic and HarleyDavidson. Hamedi has been awarded 12 patents for his inventions that use artificial intelligence and analytics software.

FUN FACT: Hamedi is a Persian kebab aficionado, and both of his parents are entrepreneurs.

Carter Jensen

Senior Manager, Global Commerce

General Mills

Age 33

Julia Giambastiani Senior Manager of Digital Content Sanofi

Age 28

Giambastiani leads digital content strategy across all of Sanofi Consumer Healthcare. Specializing in e-commerce digital shelf content that drives discoverability and conversion, she provides omnichannel leadership and collaboration to empower category, global and company innovation and growth. Her recent work includes activating next-generation, fit-for-purpose and fit-for-platform digital commerce content as well as innovating/optimizing all e-commerce content to transform the company’s presence in the space. She and her team delivered content scores of more than 90% for its top nine retailers, a first for the company since tracking content. She has also cultivated deeply collaborative working relationships with key internal stakeholders, educating them on the digital ecosystem and best practices, and effectively managed Sanofi’s digital content and syndication budget across multiple agency partners. Giambastiani has also developed and staffed a content team, has improved processes and defined responsibilities cross-functionally to drive efficiencies, and created an entirely new approach to content and ways of working for the organization — which has earned her teams an unprecedented seat at the table in annual brand planning. Prior to joining Sanofi in 2020, Giambastiani held similar positions at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, where she began her career as an intern.

FUN FACT: Giambastiani taught English in Thailand for a semester in 2018.

Jensen’s mission when he joined General Mills in 2020 was to help accelerate its e-commerce capabilities. He has since supported the vision of connected commerce across the organization, transforming the go-to-market strategy for the company’s collection of global brands. He is most proud of his team’s recent introduction of a groundbreaking solution called PDP+, an enhanced version of traditional shoppability solutions that not only minimizes clicks to purchase, but also offers a comprehensive data trail from engagement to purchase across all of its digital touchpoints. Other efforts have included a new strategy that defines the role and impact for the direct-to-consumer business within General Mills. He has also focused on enabling emerging markets and agile brands to collect, manage and activate first-party data while connecting with their consumers in new ways — all within limited budgets and tight timelines. Jensen has driven social commerce acceleration, with pilots and partnerships marking various “firsts” with partners such as TikTok and Meta. Prior to joining General Mills, he led a variety of consumer experience and technology startups in addition to holding agency and consulting leadership positions.

FUN FACT: Several years into his career, Jensen’s closest friends persuaded him to join them as they embarked on an adventure to Melbourne, Australia. While working at a burger shop, they earned enough to sustain themselves and discover their new surroundings. Jensen returned a year later, filled with inspiration and ready to launch his first startup.

Christa Klausner Senior Vice President, Commerce

Digitas Age 38

Klausner is charged with driving commerce integration across Digitas and Publicis Power of 1 teams for Kellogg’s, Edgewell, Haleon (previously GSK), Medline and others. Her work spans retail media, social commerce, shoppable media and measurement solutions. She also leads commerce teams that oversee marketplace go-to-market strategies and evolving retail media network and monetization offerings with brands such as Ferrara, CVS and Sephora. Klausner is most proud of driving growth within the Digitas commerce capability by focusing on new client acquisition, organic growth across existing clients and expansion in commerce talent across the agency.

Klausner spent the first 14 years of her career at TPN (Omnicom), initially focused on client service before shifting to help guide the growth of a digital commerce consultancy within the agency, while supporting shopper marketing and digital commerce efforts for its clients. With Digitas since March 2021, Klausner is focused on connecting commerce with media, creative, technology and other capabilities across the agency. She is responsible for growing the retail media practice, driving the growth of shoppable media experiences, and supporting data monetization across Digitas and Publicis clients.

FUN FACT: Klausner says that most people she meets for the first time are convinced they’ve met previously.

Yashika Maru Trade & Shopper Marketing Manager

BuzzBallz LLC/Southern Champion Age 32

Maru leads trade, shopper and events marketing for the company, the only woman-owned distillery, winery and brewery in the United States. She spent more than four years as the marketing coordinator for Nebraska Furniture Mart before starting at BuzzBallz in 2018. A key project this year was implementing shopper marketing campaigns for Uptown Cocktails. She says building the BuzzBallz and Uptown Cocktails brand from scratch has been a great journey, where she has been able to gain knowledge of the beverage industry while executing 360-degree marketing programs. Maru has been a jack of all trades within the company’s sales and marketing teams as the company grows, building elements of trade, events, shopper and digital marketing for the brand. She attacks her work with tenacity, ambition and leadership, not being afraid to take risks — but with a strategic and datadriven approach. Maru’s passion for the consumer packaged goods industry and small companies fosters her growth mindset that positively impacts her work with consistent successes.

FUN FACT: Maru has a passion for interior design.

Arc Worldwide Age 39

McCabe joined Arc two years ago to lead the grocery sector of Unilever’s shopper marketing business. Today, she and her team strive to turn even the most turnkey shopper marketing assignments into innovative, awardwinning programs that drive brand equity and shopper engagement. A notable campaign from the past year includes the launch of “Scents of Confidence” for Unilever exclusively at Kroger. The program showed parents how to take the sweat out of finding their tween’s first deodorant with a revolutionary way to shop: by passions, not gender. There was a 24% penetration lift for household trial of Unilever deodorant, and deodorant grew sales by 20%. McCabe also led the creation of Juntos for Unilever at ShopRite to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month, which took Latinx Caribbean culture out of the ethnic aisle and put it center stage with a family-reunion inspired fiesta. Unilever saw a portfolio increase of 23.8% and penetration of Hispanic households shopping at ShopRite rose to 22.1%. McCabe has more than 15 years of experience at agencies like VMLY&R Commerce and Momentum. She co-founded “The Moms Circle,” a support network for working and expecting moms while at VMLY&R Commerce, and through some of the Publicis Groupe’s mentoring programs, is guiding soon-to-be moms as they transition to working parenthood now at Arc.

Kris McDermott Director, Omnichannel Marketing Kimberly-Clark

Age 37

McDermott leads Kimberly-Clark’s omnichannel marketing teams for Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target and emerging platforms. She and her team create and execute marketing programs that drive brand equity, trial, conversion and loyalty. Notable work this past year includes the launch of some of the company’s biggest omnichannel activations to date, including “Tissue Sessions for Change” with Kleenex at Target, “The Big Split” at Sam’s Club and “Magic In Hand” with Huggies at Walmart. She is most proud of her efforts to drive the reorganization of the team from shopper marketing sitting in shopper engagement to omnichannel marketing, and being part of the digital commerce/omnichannel marketing team. McDermott is passionate about leveraging retail platforms to drive brand outcomes and has been a critical contributor to Kimberly-Clark’s advancement in holistic media planning and activation. She brought her background in performance marketing to her roles, first in shopper marketing to drive the discipline and focus on retail media and, more recently, in leading omnichannel marketing for some of the company’s largest customers. Prior, she led e-commerce capability development for Edelman and in various commerce capability and client leadership roles in Omnicom Media Group.

FUN FACT: McDermott is building a freestanding cordwood sauna with her best friend in Michigan this summer.

Jacqueline “Jax” McCabe Creative Director

FUN FACT: McCabe owns a 125-year-old table-top letterpress that she used to make her own wedding invitations.

Rebecca Miller Vice President, Commerce Strategy Mosaic

Age 38

Miller guides Mosaic clients in navigating the next frontier of hybrid shopping behaviors to build humancentric experiences. Recently, she helped elevate the annual planning approach for clients by bringing more retailer-specific shopper data to the forefront, working with creative leadership to set new standards for best-in-class creative commerce principles, and partnering with the Mosaic Commerce Media team to strengthen connections between shopper audience profiling, communications strategy and retail media. She has had the unique opportunity of working with Mosaic commerce clients of all sizes across the U.S. and Canada this past year. Miller has brought strategic agility to large established CPG brands, led strategy for niche brands moving from direct-to-consumer to mass retail, and reignited communications for conventional brands in unconventional ways. She is most proud of leading ongoing creative strategy work over the past two years to help bring some of the “fun” parts of “Target Run” to a marquee grocery category, which has been recognized by the retailer as best in class and helped break through long-held food and beverage category constrictions at Target. Miller started her career in commerce marketing more than 16 years ago as a shopper strategy intern at a Walmart-focused agency while finishing her degree at the Walton College of Business. Her senior thesis on how people shop for jams and jellies sparked a fascination with the emotional drivers of shopping behavior that continues to this day.

FUN FACT: Miller is an amateur artist and recently completed the cover artwork for a soon-to-bepublished novel, of which she can’t share the title just yet.

Jenna O’Brien Senior Customer Marketing Manager The Coca-Cola Company Age 37

O’Brien is a shopper marketing strategy and execution lead supporting 7-Eleven across innovation, the company’s Coke with meals program, pillar programs and retailer-specific initiatives. She leveraged multiple media channels this past year to create unique shopper experiences and drive sales of the bottler’s sparkling and still beverage portfolio, resulting in a Supplier of the Year team award. O’Brien also led the charge to amplify 7-Eleven’s summer campaign with occasion-based marketing and media aimed at bringing more Gen Z consumers to Coca-Cola brands through the lens of music, art and fashion. Her team created exclusive gear and a unique festival camper filled with co-branded swag, snacks and ice-cold Coca-Cola. The program was activated through POS, digital assets and an incremental custom shipper unit that featured ambient sparkling soft drink innovation — all of which was supported by a multi-layer, high-value targeted digital media campaign with digital mobile, paid social, digital audio, navigation and influencer tactics. O’Brien has been at the company for 11 years. Prior to that, she spent four years in account management at Saatchi & Saatchi X as the agency of record for Wendy’s.

FUN FACT: Being an athlete has always been part of O’Brien’s identity, but this year she made her foray into coaching with her godson’s soccer team. She’ll be back on the field this fall.

Heather Och Senior Director, Category Leadership PepsiCo

Age 37

Och leads the category leadership team for the central division for Quaker, Pepsi Beverages and Frito-Lay. Her team works to unlock category growth by delivering actionable insights to benefit the shopper and customer, and drive the strategy for the divisions. Utilizing the Pepviz capabilities, her team has pioneered the new wave of analytic capabilities with its customers, including new segmentations as well as clustering and space optimization approaches. Prior to PepsiCo, Och worked in marketing at Giant Eagle for its new formats and loyalty programs, at Nielsen in client management and at GSK in category management. She has been with PepsiCo for more than seven years in category leadership and sales.

FUN FACT: Och is a six-year breast cancer survivor and works to raise awareness around early detection through WIN and local organizations.

Jonathan Morrow Vice President, Group Creative Director The Mars Agency

Age 38

Morrow joined The Mars Agency in 2017 to grow the creative practice in Chicago. He has since relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, and currently leads the agency’s long partnership with Campbell Soup Co. He and his team have developed successful platforms like the mediato-shelf “Joy Night In” program with Hallmark at Walmart, Target’s experiential “Happy to Host” that appeared in Times Square, and Campbell’s multi-year “Prepless” campaign, which continues to drive real value for shoppers. He believes

in ideas that create impact and a team culture that reminds people just how fun their jobs and this industry can be. Notable work this past year includes Campbell’s “Season of Giving,” a first-of-its-kind promotion at Instacart where their shoppers could be surprised with $500 when fulfilling orders throughout the holiday season. Morrow started his career in Chicago as an art director on the MilkPEP account, helping to build on the “Got milk?” campaign. He is a true steward of the industry and its future, mentoring young creatives and students, and volunteering as a judge across industry award circuits. Much of his success, he says, can be attributed to three very simple strategies: be nice, surround yourself with smart people and get to bed at a reasonable hour.

FUN FACT: Morrow dips his grilled cheese in ketchup, and no one can stop him.

Natalie Ong Director of

Operations Dollar General Media Network Age 32

After joining DG Media Network in 2022 as it launched its new iteration, Ong played an instrumental part in growing the product and capability suite to unlock the retail media network’s next generation of growth. She led Alpha/Beta testing this past year and launched new ad products for the network to deliver innovation to DG Media Network’s vendor partners, enabling them to capture the hard-to-reach in new diversified channels. She also built an operations team as the business moved more capabilities in-house. Ong started her career as a trader on Wall Street before moving to a local startup incubator in Singapore, working with earlystage startups on their financial projections and business case development. Her blend of finance and startup experience carried over well to the retail media network space, where she began working on commercialization efforts at Target’s Roundel before assuming her current role at DG Media Network. Ong now manages an operations team to unlock scale for the rapidly growing media network and works closely with internal and external tech partners to bring new products to life that allow vendors to strategically connect with the DG customer in relevant ways. She is proud to have recently completed a 14mile hike in the Rocky Mountains, seven months post-knee surgery.

FUN FACT: Growing up in Singapore, Tokyo and New York, Ong did not learn how to drive until in her late 20s and bought her first car (an EV) in her 30s. She continues to hope that it will eventually drive and park itself better than she can.

Adrienne Polley Last Miler Platform Manager Clif Bar & Company Age 31

Polley started at Clif Bar nearly seven years ago. Her first work in field marketing events, which included sampling products and connecting with consumers, initiated a deep sense of pride for the company, its core values and its portfolio of products. She later contracted on different teams within the organization, supporting the field and sports marketing teams as well as a team dedicated to internal process and systems improvement. She is a cross-functional collaborator and has spent the past four years on the shopper and e-marketing team, owning integrated shopper plans across key customers by partnering closely with sales, marketing and brand teams. Polley’s most recent role involved serving as the shopper lead for the Kroger business, where she was responsible for implementing comprehensive 360-degree plans aimed at driving business growth. She is dedicated to expanding her knowledge in the commerce space and keeping up with industry trends by prioritizing and attending events — and she’s always seeking efficiencies in ways of working and breaking down silos. Polley looks forward to continuing to elevate the importance of shopper marketing and e-commerce, and has recently become an internal lead in helping the voices of the company’s people be heard as well as engaging with others in activating the best parts of company culture.

FUN FACT: Polley loves exploring new hiking trails with her husband and her dog, Moose.

Amie Owen Head of Commerce Universal McCann Age 38

Owen joined Universal McCann in 2013, focusing on its shopper efforts. The media agency is now morphing UM Shopper into UM Commerce, and she sits at the helm, overseeing a staff of approximately 50. She says technology advances such as the re-emergence of QR codes and outof-stock technologies, consumer habit changes spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a better data trail to track the consumer journey (including access to Acxiom data) have created the right market conditions to evolve. Her efforts now include driving incremental opportunities through a new commerce story — treating commerce as both a partner (knowing planning/buying of retail media) and a tactic (making all things shoppable across audience purchase journeys.) She has more than 15 years of experience within the shopper media industry, and as head of the discipline for almost 10 years, she conceptualized, developed and launched UM’s first Commerce Media team, focusing on the areas of connected commerce, digital activations in retail, traditional shopper media and commerce media consultancy. She and her team have worked with top brands to help develop their new coined commerce capabilities, leading to UM Commerce adding six new clients to its roster in 2022 alone.

FUN FACT: An avid runner who has participated in more than 10 marathons, Owen runs in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to honor her friends and family who have lost their lives to these cancers.

Radecki Shopper Marketing Senior Manager Fairlife

Rachel

Age 27

Radecki develops insights-driven programming to connect with shoppers both in-store and online. She currently leads omnichannel shopper strategies and executions across all of Fairlife’s brands at Walmart and in its club, drug, value and convenience retailers. She works closely with Coca-Cola’s customer marketing team to unlock opportunities for total portfolio programming. Recent key projects include partnering with the insights team to develop a new approach for measuring the recruitment effectiveness of shopper programs, developing portfolio pillar programming with key partners at Coca-Cola, and attending top-to-top customer meetings with executive leadership to highlight the strong performance of programs with retail media networks. During her time at Fairlife, she has executed more than 200 shopper marketing programs across key customers and has developed 10 key shopper marketing strategies and campaigns. She has partnered closely with brand and sales teams to develop best-in-class launch plans for new products at retail and execute against key brand strategies, and has delivered strong results to drive the business for Fairlife brands (including setting new sales lift benchmarks for the category at Sam’s Club). Prior to joining in 2021, Radecki worked at VMLY&R Commerce. She has been named a “Rising Mentee” by Adweek and has spent the past 10 years as a leader of the Chicago International Model United Nations.

FUN FACT: In a previous role, Radecki worked closely with musician Jon Bon Jovi on his Hampton Water Wine redesign and relaunch.

Amanda Robinson Senior Manager,

Shopper Marketing H&H Group (Zesty Paws & Solid Gold) Age 34

At H&H Group since October 2021, Robinson has effectively helped bring multi-condition pet supplement brand Zesty Paws and premium pet nutrition brand Solid Gold to life in-store and online. She has worked with her team to develop a process for developing best-in-class shopper marketing programs and launch Zesty Paws at three new retailers. She is particularly proud of the shopper marketing efforts this past year since the brand was primarily digital before she joined the team. Robinson has more than a decade of omnichannel and experiential experience in brand and shopper marketing. She started her career at HMT Associates working with Kraft Foods, which allowed her to build creative and strategic skills while focusing on in-store displays. During her time at Geometry Global, Robinson worked with Purina to build omnichannel programs for Petco, Walmart and Sam’s Club, with the shoot for the Pro Plan Westminster Winning Formula “Dogumentary” being a highlight. She also held roles at The Brandon Agency and The J.M. Smucker Co., focused on growing pet brands within the independent channel; and at Natural Balance Pet Foods in product development, where she worked with her team to launch Freeze Dried and Platefulls and was involved in the overall revamp of the brand.

FUN FACT: When Robinson isn’t playing with her three children, she owns her own photography business, has a cooking blog and is currently working to earn her yoga teacher certification.

Richard Rodgers Director, Omnichannel Marketing Keurig Dr Pepper Canada Age 39

Lauren

Ruis Senior Manager, Shopper Strategy & Planning Ferrara Candy Company Age 37

Ruis works across Ferrara’s iconic confectionery brands, including Nerds, Trolli, SweeTarts and Black Forest to drive brand growth by reaching shoppers on the path to purchase with consistent, equity-building and commerce-driving communications. Recently, she led multiple commerce-driving promotions that resulted in greater in-store display presence for the Trolli, SweeTarts and Nerds brands. This past year, she also helped launch innovative products with connected commerce tactics designed to drive omnichannel commerce. Ruis has more than 13 years of experience working across various disciplines in marketing, including brand marketing, consumer promotions, market research and shopper marketing at companies such as Mars Wrigley, Glanbia Performance Nutrition and ZS Associates. She is most proud of having led the creation of a summer music in-store display program (which highly exceeded volume expectations) and becoming a mom to her son in August 2022.

FUN FACT: Her dog’s Instagram account (@odellthemutt) has way more followers than she does, and he’s been recognized on the streets of Chicago.

When Rodgers joined the company in 2016, he was charged with building the shopper marketing team and defining the national- and account-specific strategies for the hot portfolio of brands (Keurig, Van Houtte and Timothy’s) and later integrating the cold portfolio (Mott’s Clamato, Canada Dry, Bai) following the merger of Keurig Canada and Canada Dry Mott’s in 2018. Also a member of the Walmart Connect Client Advisory Board in Canada, his passion for creating a seamless shopping experience along the path to purchase contributed to the successful launches of coffee makers like the K-Express Essentials and full-year customer marketing plans across grocery, retail, and convenience and gas customers. Rodgers developed a hybrid team that integrates traditional and digital shopper marketing with the paid search and digital shelf teams. The integrated omnichannel structure earned his team Keurig Dr Pepper Canada’s 2022 Team of the Year award. They continue to work to remove the physical barriers between traditional brick-and-mortar and e-commerce, shifting the mindset from “where” people shop to “how” they shop. Key projects this past year include the implementation of an elevated in-store and online shopping experience for Keurig coffee makers at Canadian Tire and Walmart, as well as several key national retail campaigns, and full-year Walmart Connect planning for Keurig coffee makers.

FUN FACT: Rodgers is such a huge Marvel Cinematic Universe fan that he named his son (first, middle and last names) after the Avengers “Big Three:” Thor, Iron Man and Captain America.

Allie Schenian Performance Marketing Manager Unilever Age 34

Schenian has 10 years of marketing experience working with top brands such as IBM, Clorox, Seventh Generation and Unilever. She started her career as a field marketing manager at IBM for two years before transitioning into CPG in 2014 as an account lead at Catapult (now Publicis agency), supporting The Clorox Co. She then joined Unilever in 2017 on the shopper marketing team. Schenian was promoted to her current role at the beginning of 2022 and now leads multiple projects to accelerate Unilever’s capabilities within marketing. Recent work includes partnering with Epsilon to develop and implement a new Unilever audience platform, The Hive, to build audience-first strategies and campaigns for shopper marketing; leading a cross-functional team to develop and pilot a new full-funnel audience strategy that is connecting category, brand and retail audiences to unlock growth; and spearheading the development of new measurement capabilities and framework within shopper marketing to better analyze performance. She is proud to have completed her MBA at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

FUN FACT: Schenian’s husband was her neighbor all throughout childhood. She has been “dating” him for 18 years.

Reshma Schneider Commerce Marketing Director Conagra Brands Age 35

Schneider has been with Conagra Brands for five years and currently leads its commerce marketing team for the company’s regional grocery retailers. She and her team work closely with the sales teams and retailer partners to drive sales and profitability through creative, innovative omnichannel activations. They leverage the company’s shopper and retailer expertise to build programs to connect with shoppers through trial, awareness, engagement, conversion and loyalty utilizing everything from traditional in-store tactics, e-commerce support, retail media activation and digital shelf analytics. Notable work this past year includes leading a team through the shifting landscape of commerce marketing and the accelerated growth of e-commerce, as well as the introduction of retail media networks and the expansion of retailer capabilities. Schneider also points to working with key retail media networks to standardize measurement, methodology and metrics across the industry — and training and educating leadership, cross-functional teams, agencies and partners across retail media, digital shelf analytics and building omnichannel programs as a main focus of her efforts. She is most proud of the partnerships she has built throughout Conagra and with its customers. Prior to her current role, Schneider spent three years on the e-commerce team focused on developing the fundamentals, standing up new capabilities and managing pure play retailers, including Amazon, as well as in various roles in e-commerce, digital marketing and sales outside of the company.

FUN FACT: Schneider is a proud dog mom of two rescues: Bali (age 3) and Maui (age 9 months).

Halli Stewart E-Commerce Digital Content Manager Prestige Consumer Healthcare Age 26

After spending several months traveling throughout South East Asia on an international business program and managing Marist College’s athletics department’s social media, Stewart graduated in 2018. She began her e-commerce career at Nestle Waters and, in May 2022, joined Prestige Consumer Healthcare to manage the digital shelf and e-commerce content creation. In that time, she has launched 15 new items across the omnichannel space, helping to manage all aspects of a successful launch, including content creation and review seeding. She has also completed full content and packaging rebranding for five major brands, leveraging the newest best-in-class e-commerce content standards, and optimized 12 additional brands with new SEO-focused marketing copy. She created new enhanced content working with the company’s agency partners or utilizing her own graphic design background and digital production skills. She is most proud of being able to increase the company’s digital shelf content scores across all retailers to the 95%-100% range this past year.

FUN FACT: Stewart previously worked at The Walt Disney Co. in Florida as a boat captain.

Claire Wyatt

Vice President of Business Strategy & Marketing Science Albertsons Media Collective Age 35

Wyatt leads a team working on building out innovative, transparent measurement products, advanced audience targeting solutions and the overall business strategy for Albertsons Media Collective. The team is hyper-focused on the intersection of business performance, industry disruption, and underlying current and future client needs. Prior to her time at Albertsons Media Collective, Wyatt worked at Target’s Roundel, owning reporting, insights and analytics for more than $600 million in advertising spend and Roundel’s most significant client accounts. She is most proud of building out the Strategy & Science Team at Albertsons Media Collective — where there is a culture that she says achieves, but has fun while doing it. Key work over the past year includes the Incrementality Launch, an industry-leading incrementality methodology for off-platform media channels; agency partnerships with OMG & The Mars Agency; the Pinterest Clean Room, for which she helped lead a team that launched a first-to-market, closedloop measurement via a clean room with Pinterest; and closed-loop measurement via The Trade Desk, where partners with self-service capabilities through The Trade Desk can activate using its audiences and see attributed revenue in the platform.

FUN FACT: An avid DIYer, Wyatt is in the middle of renovating her Chicago condo. She’s particularly proud of redoing the backsplash in her kitchen.

Ashleigh Zysko Customer Director, Shopper Marketing Mondelez International Age 33

Zysko is responsible for leading omnishopper marketing for Mondelez International’s U.S. portfolio of brands within the convenience channel. She is focused on creating meaningful omnichannel experiences and solutions for c-store shoppers while delivering successful business results for her company, customers and partners. She has spent more than seven years at Mondelez and, prior to joining the company, held account management roles across a variety of shopper marketing and promotional marketing agencies, including IN Marketing, Geometry Global (now VMLY&R) and G2 Marketing. Zysko and her team promoted the 2022 launch of Sour Patch Kids’ full lineup of individual fruit candy flavors alongside a limited-edition Sour Patch Kids Strawberry Watermelon Froster in collaboration with PepsiCo. The fully integrated marketing campaign was created to drive awareness, increase store traffic and convert sales of the candy and Froster bundled solution. It included touchpoints across the full path to purchase to engage shoppers at key points of interruption. Zysko and her team received industry recognition following the campaign’s success.

FUN FACT: Zysko enjoys volunteering at a local animal rescue in her spare time. That is where she adopted her first pup, a black lab mix named Willow.

Commerce in the Metaverse: HOW BRANDS ARE EXPLORING THE WEB3 FRONTIER

Virtual 3D worlds built for branding and entertainment are increasingly giving way to true commerce experiences. Here’s what marketers need to know.

BY MICHAEL APPLEBAUM

The metaverse represents different things to different people. For marketers, one thing it is definitely not is a level playing field — especially when it comes to expectations for Web3-enabled commerce. If your name happens to be Nike or Starbucks, you can arguably afford to take the long view and plant your flag gradually in the metaverse, enticing consumers with immersive virtual experiences without hitting them over the head with a sales pitch.

“We’re not gonna sell stuff right away,” Ron Faris, general manager of Nike Virtual Studios, said last November when the brand announced its new “Swoosh” virtual community. For now, the Web3-based platform is a showcase for Nike’s virtual footwear, apparel and accessories. Users are invited to explore, collect and trade virtual items like jerseys and digital shoes. Some may be able to access exclusive events and collaborate with Nike designers on virtual products.

While brands experimented with a variety of metaverse technologies ranging from NFTs to gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite in 2022, they now face more pressure to generate ROI and work with technologies that drive business results, integrate with their systems and provide better data.

— Neha Singh, Obsess

A similar story unfolded two months earlier when Starbucks launched its blockchain-based NFT platform, Odyssey. A virtual extension of the brand’s loyalty rewards program, Odyssey allows Starbucks loyalty customers to play interactive coffee-themed games (called “Journeys”) to win points that can be applied toward collectible items, entry into virtual experiences and invitations to exclusive events. Free lattes, however, were not part of the program.

It is difficult to place a monetary value on such metaverse marketing. But in this restrictive marketing environment, most brands no longer have the luxury of dipping their toes into the metaverse without being able to monetize it in a more immediate and tangible way (if they ever did). For many brands and retailers, the priority right now is building the necessary infrastructure to create a pathway to the metaverse that ultimately drives sales of real physical goods.

“While brands experimented with a variety of metaverse technologies ranging from NFTs to gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite in 2022, they now face more pressure to generate ROI and work with technologies that drive business

results, integrate with their systems and provide better data,” says Neha Singh, founder and CEO of Obsess, a New Yorkbased technology company that works with beauty, fashion and CPG brands, among others, to create “photorealistic” 3D virtual store experiences on their own websites.

From Cosmetics to Chocolates, Brands Go Virtual

Brands are increasingly using metaverse tools such as augmented reality/virtual reality technology to create shoppable virtual experiences through extensions of their e-commerce platforms. Global cosmetics and skincare company Laura Mercier unveiled its World of Beauty virtual store (created in collaboration with Obsess) during the 2022 holiday season.

Around the same time, Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt launched a virtual store, powered by e-commerce platform ByondXR, that featured a chocolate lab with a virtual candymaking demo from Lindt chocolatier Ann Czaja.

To be sure, these are more integrated experiences than, say, the AR-enhanced virtual dressing rooms that apparel retailers began experimenting with several years ago. But in other respects, they resemble traditional e-commerce experiences in a virtual 3D world. Laura Mercier’s store, which can be accessed through the company’s website, allows users to explore rooms with tools like a virtual shade finder, and to click on buttons to browse product pages and select items for purchase. “In all Obsess-powered virtual stores, customers can add items to their cart within the virtual store and then go through the regular checkout process of the brand,” notes Singh.

While such experiences may give consumers a feel for what shopping will be like in the early stages of the metaverse, they still rely on a traditional web interface and take place in the 2D online world. They do borrow aspects of broader metaverse culture and platforms like Roblox and Fortnite in their gaming elements, such as Lindt’s memory game and Laura Mercier’s hide-and-seek game — both of which reward winners with either discounts or free product samples.

Experts say the next change for commerce will happen once technology advances to the point where these experiences are more broadly accessible, become more interactive, gamified and shareable, and begin to move away from the online world. “Right now, the only metaverses that exist in a scalable way are in the gaming platforms,” says Diana Sheehan, an independent marketing consultant who developed mixed reality applications for brands and retailers in her previous senior roles at Chicagobased VR firm InContext Solutions.

So, what will “real” shopping ultimately look like in the metaverse? “You might take elements of Fortnite where people enter an experience from a banner ad on a retailer’s website,” predicts Sheehan. “Let’s say you hop in and go into a virtual Super Bowl store. You can shop around, there’s ads and recipes. [Meanwhile] friends are coming to parties to join them. Then you decide together who’s making what and what you need to buy. Everybody does their grocery shopping at the same time in different places while ‘gaming out’ the experience.”

How AI Is Accelerating the Metaverse (and Vice Versa)

As of today, most industries deploy the metaverse at scale primarily for commercial use. For retailers, those applications range from creating virtual replicas of retail stores (Lowe’s calls these “digital twin” stores) to testing new ideas for products and packaging, shelf concepts and store layouts. Companies are also using AR and machine learning for audits and compliance, working with shopper marketing teams to ensure that specific items will sell as forecasted. “As the metaverse shifts from these commercial uses to broader consumer uses, you’ll start to have commerce experiences in actual metaverses versus online,” Sheehan says.

Artificial intelligence can help accelerate this process. AI capabilities are now being used to simplify and automate the creation of 3D content and modeling, and to bring those capabilities to the masses. Up until about a year ago, online retailers like Wayfair had to turn to corporate solutions such

Virtual tour guide Tayaba Jafri (at left), global beauty director at Laura Mercier, walks visitors through World of Beauty; and Ann Czaja (at right), Lindt chocolatier, directs customers to the chocolate lab for a virtual truffle-making lesson.

as Apple’s Object Capture AR tool in order to manually develop 3D models of their products.

Today, any consumer with an iPhone can search the app store for free tools that will essentially do the same thing in a fraction of the time. Scores of smaller technology companies now offer such tools, while larger firms like Shopify provide resources to connect retailers with app developers and to help build 3D content plans. This democratization of 3D content creation will allow brands and retailers to populate the metaverse more efficiently, in the same way that 2D content did for e-commerce.

It is important for marketers to distinguish between these applications and the broader fields of creative AI, spatial computing and computational design — all of which play a role in the transition to Web3 and building out the metaverse. “While Web3 and emerging trends such as blockchain and NFTs are significantly enhanced by AI technology, it appears that Web3 is influencing AI, rather than the other way around,” says Dominik Heinrich, assistant professor for AI Design at the Pratt Institute in New York.

According to Heinrich, it is increasingly difficult for people to differentiate between human- and AI-generated content. However, utilizing NFTs and blockchain technology can help establish transparency by tracking the content’s origins. These issues can spill over from the broader culture (think deep fakes) into the business and marketing world, says Henrich.

“Computational or generative AI can create real-time, hyper-personalized content for the metaverse, defined as the seamless blend between the real and virtual world (XR) accessible through regular glasses,” he says. “AI can map virtual content over reality in real time, without the need for storage, as it is generated and deleted on the fly. In a shopping scenario, this might involve trying on different colors or sizes of clothing virtually through your glasses. Here, the metaverse is essentially another user interface, with AI generating relevant content in real time.”

Creative Commerce: Start Learning Now

Estimates of the timeline for a widely accessible metaverse are largely a function of the available hardware. Tech insiders believe that Apple’s reported mass production of its mixed reality headset this year could rapidly speed VR adoption among mainstream consumers. Another major milestone may come in 2025. That is when Meta (formerly Facebook) plans to release a pair of smart glasses with a display, alongside a neural interface smartwatch designed to control them, followed by its first pair of full-fledged AR glasses in 2027 (according to an article in The Verge).

In the meantime, McDonald Predelus, vice president and creative director of Web3 at VMLY&R Commerce, says that by observing the behaviors of content creators and their communities in the gaming and broader livestreaming space, marketers have a natural incubator for designing rich “creative commerce” experiences in the metaverse.

“As with any new platform or technology, there will be questions around how to create value in the experience that users will pay for: How can brands develop innovative ways to monetize and create engagement in their presence in the metaverse, whether through virtual goods, in-game purchases or other methods?” Predelus says.

Predelus cautions marketers that the way consumers engage in gaming and livestreaming communities, including those hosted by online platforms

Stamps? Virtual Creations? Just Don’t Call Them NFTs

What’s in a name? When it comes to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the answer is a lot.

Talk about a blockchain bubble. Two years ago, marketers were tripping over themselves to jump on the digital collectible bandwagon, using “NFT” as shorthand for the trend. But some industry observers were skeptical. “The idea of having unique digital artifacts like NFTs is pretty fundamental to the metaverse, but right now many brands are using them without a clear sense of direction or underlying strategy,” Simon Gill, executive vice president of global client business transformation at MRM, a division of IPG, said in a previous interview given in 2021.

As it turns out, Gill was prescient. Last year, when NFT sales plunged amid the cryptocurrency crash, marketers were scrambling to reset their NFT strategies — and thinking differently about Web3.

Starbucks only once referred to NFTs in its Odyssey program announcement, switching to digital “stamps” — a nod to the past and tangible goods — as the name for its digital rewards. Nike opted for the more oblique term “virtual creations” in the debut of its high-tech “Swoosh” community.

It isn’t just their name, either. Marketers are now looking to create real value out of NFTs for their customers and their companies. Starbucks’ first tranche of 2,000 stamps, each priced at $100, reportedly sold out in less than 20 minutes. Some went on to trade at much higher values.

like Twitch, are very different from the way they shop online or might eventually shop in a virtual 3D world. Those behaviors “have short life expectancies,” he says, and will likely change with the advent of disruptive technologies like spatial computing and computer vision.

For these reasons, Predelus, an avid gamer himself, advises marketers to spend as much time as possible immersed in those interactive communities. “The metaverse represents a new frontier in digital engagement, and it will be important for marketers to understand the preferences, behaviors and needs of their target audiences in this environment,” he says. “This may require new research methods and a deeper understanding of the culture and norms of the metaverse.”

TRENDS INFORMING THE 2023 RETAIL LANDSCAPE 10

BY EMILY SAFIAN-DEMERS

What are the cultural macro currents impacting retailers and brands in 2023? From recessionary retail to the “Joyconomy” and inclusivity to Web3, the consumer experts and futurists at Wunderman Thompson Intelligence have mapped out the top trends informing the 2023 retail landscape. This article is adapted from “The Future 100: 2023,” an annual forecast of the most compelling trends to watch in the coming year.

Mending Goes Mainstream

High-street brands are bringing repairs to the mass market via fresh instore options.

In 2022, Uniqlo launched its Re.Uniqlo Repair Studio at its New York flagship in SoHo, where customers can get buttons and zippers replaced, holes patched and seams mended. All repairs cost $5 and are done by Uniqlo’s alterations staff. The brand has since expanded this service into the U.K. and plans to expand further. H&M’s Kalverstraat flagship store in Amsterdam hosts a Repair & Remake workshop that revamps items from H&M or other brands.

Nike is taking a high-tech approach. In its London store in 2022, the brand piloted its Bot Initiated Longevity Lab — known as BILL — a “robotaugmented system” that can repair and clean customers’ sneakers. The instore robot identifies areas of wear and tear during a 3D scan, which can then be repaired with a patch of the shopper’s choice.

Apple launched its self-repair service in the U.S. last year, which gives iPhone 12 and 13 and some MacBook owners access to repair manuals plus more than 200 individual parts and tools to fix their own devices. It then rolled out in Europe at the end of the year.

Why it’s interesting: Inflationary pressures added to eco-aspirations are driving a resurgence of the make-do-and-mend mentality. Retail repair services, once the preserve of luxury brands, are proliferating on the high street.

Crisis Retail

As the financial crisis bites, brands are stepping up to ease the strain on shoppers’ wallets.

Retailers are making a strong commitment to freeze prices or offer creative solutions to help combat inflation. On-demand rapid delivery platform Getir rolled back the prices of key grocery staples to 1990s levels. With inflation hitting a 41-year high of 11.4% in Canada, grocer Loblaws froze the prices on 1,500 products in its affordable/generic “No Name” range in September 2022. In November 2022, Walmart ran a “This Year’s Thanksgiving Meal at Last Year’s Price” promo, removing the cost of inflation from holiday meal prep.

U.K. supermarket Sainsbury’s Sainsfreeze pop-up in London hosted tutorials about how surplus fresh ingredients can be frozen and used later, helping customers to get the most out of each purchase. Value supermarket Iceland is also taking on an advisory role via its Shop Smart Cook Savvy partnership with energy supplier Utilita, which includes in-store and on-pack instructions about the most energy-efficient and cost-effective way to cook its food.

Why it’s interesting: As the cost-of-living crisis intensifies, consumers are looking for frugal life hacks to make their budgets stretch. Brands can play a key role here to show their community values and drive long-term loyalty.

Ageless Play

Brands are encouraging play for consumers of all ages.

McDonald’s introduced Happy Meals for adults in October 2022. “Everyone remembers their fi rst Happy Meal as a kid ... and the can’t-sit-still feeling as you dug in to see what was inside,” the company said. “Now, we’re reimagining that experience in a whole new way — this time, for adults.”

Canadian cannabis company Houseplant is injecting a dose of playfulness into its product experience. The brand unveiled new packaging in April 2022 that takes inspiration from Lego blocks.

Moxy Hotels is offering travelers “playful stays.” Moxy describes its latest location, opened in New York in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in November 2022, as a “playful haven” with a design “inspired by the circuses and old-time menageries that once lined the Bowery.”

Why it’s interesting: After an unpredictable few years, people are looking for moments of emotional

Multiversal Design

Physical spaces are getting dreamy, absurdist redesigns — transporting visitors to imaginary worlds and alternate realities.

As digital environments and virtual worlds evolve, they’re ushering in a new modern creative vernacular — one marked by a boundless creativity that surpasses the constraints of physical reality.

Balenciaga wrapped its London store entirely in pink faux fur in April 2022, covering the walls, floors and shelves in the fluff y material, and giving visitors the sense of stepping into a playfully absurd alternate world.

Louis Vuitton created a life-size toy racetrack at the Louvre in Paris for the backdrop of its spring/ summer 2023 show in June 2022. “A giant children’s toy racetrack becomes a yellow-brick road for the imagination,” the brand said. “An evolutionary path for the mind where childlike fantasies come to life.”

Why it’s interesting: We are on the cusp of a new golden age of creativity, catalyzed by the dawn of Web3. As digital design gets more sophisticated, it’s untethering creativity from the bounds of the physical world — opening the door to multiversal design, both on and off screens.

release. Brands are tapping into the cultural desire for optimism and childlike abandon by redesigning their offerings to encourage joy and play.

Mass Inclusive Brands

Brands are bringing inclusive products into the mainstream.

In July 2022, Pottery Barn launched a new range of adaptive furniture based on its 150 best-selling styles. The pieces were designed with support from the Disability Education and Advocacy Network and are more accessible for people with mobility issues. The range is available online and in stores, at the same price as the original designs.

Packaged goods are also getting an overhaul. Strauss, one of Israel’s largest food manufacturers, announced in February 2022 that it will adapt its snack packaging to make it easier to open for people with disabilities. In Europe, Kellogg’s has added NaviLens codes to all of its cereal boxes, allowing those with sight impairments to use their phone to scan the package for nutritional and other information.

Why it’s interesting: People with disabilities and their families have an estimated $13 trillion in spending power, according to the “Global Economics of Disability 2020” report from Return on Disability. By considering the various needs of a wider audience, brands are able to tap into the opportunity that inclusive design brings, creating better, more accessible products for all.

Accessible Commerce

Brands are leveraging advances in voice recognition technology to make physical and digital spaces accessible to all.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft have joined forces with the University of Illinois Speech Accessibility Project, which aims to make voicerecognition technology more effective at understanding people with conditions that alter their speech pattern.

Alibaba’s online marketplace Taobao is expanding its use of voice search to make China’s leading e-commerce platform more accessible to elderly users who live outside tier-one cities.

Starbucks is trialing speech-to-text technology, which will allow both customers and staff to see a live visual display of all conversations during the ordering process, making its cafes more approachable for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Why it’s interesting: Brands are leaving money on the table by failing to make their spaces and services universally accessible. Voice recognition and speech-totext technologies play a key role in making physical and online retail inclusive for all.

Web3 Brands

Brands are taking on Web3. YSL Beauty debuted its Web3 and NFT initiative in June 2022, aiming to create a new loyalty experience. YSL NFT holders will gain access to additional content, launches, drops and more throughout the year on the brand’s token-gated page. The same month, Prada dropped its first Timecapsule collection of NFTs, which allows consumers to access exclusive experiences — the monthly Timecapsule issues have sold out ever since.

Starbucks will soon offer a Web3-based rewards program in which collectible coffeethemed NFTs will serve as tokens for owners to gain access to additional drops, membership and events.

Why it’s interesting: Web3 is inevitable. To prepare for its arrival, brands are arming themselves with updated digital strategies.

Next-Gen Ownership

An emerging digital framework is introducing a new formula for ownership. In the coming digital era of Web3, users will not only co-author, but co-own their digital experiences.

In the past, if a user created something and posted it on Instagram, the platform would own that asset. But others like Niche are putting control into users’ hands. On Niche, the “members are owners,” Niche co-founder and CEO Chris Gulczynski said. The social media platform’s decentralized model makes users “owners in the same way that someone who has stock in a company is an owner,” Niche co-founder and CTO Zaven Nahapetyan said. “As their group becomes more desirable, more exclusive or gets more media coverage, the value of their ownership stake could go up.”

Members-only restaurant Flyfish Club, set to open in 2023, is experimenting with NFT-based ownership. NFTs have “changed the value proposition to our members,” David Rodolitz, founder and CEO of Flyfish Club, said. “They own the membership rather than essentially renting a social experience. They own their access.”

Why it’s interesting: A paradigm shift is underway. Ownership is no longer defi ned by the ability to hold a physical item in your hands. These new ownership models will revolutionize the way brands and consumers interact with digital goods, services and content.

Cryptoliteracy

Financial institutions and fintech brands want to demystify the metaeconomy.

In March 2022, the U.S. Treasury launched the Financial Literacy Education Commission, which is responsible for creating educational materials and organizing outreach to inform the public about how crypto assets work.

Fidelity Investments launched a financial education center in the metaverse in April 2022. The virtual learning center, located in Decentraland, helps educate visitors on investing basics, the metaverse and Fidelity’s new metaverse exchange-traded fund. The center was created to “inform a new generation of investors,” the brand said.

In February 2022, Mastercard expanded its consultancy services to cover cryptocurrency, NFTs and open banking. The new suite of services will help banks and businesses adopt digital assets like cryptocurrency and NFTs, address risk assessment for digital currencies and NFTs, and advise on the development of digital wallets, crypto credit cards and crypto loyalty programs.

Why it’s interesting: Web3 is giving rise to new retail avenues and a nascent digital goods economy — all of which will inform spending patterns and are leading to the creation of a new cryptonomic ecosystem. But first, education needs to take place; the future of Web3 commerce hinges not only on adoption, but also on education — for both consumers and brands.

Co-Creative Commerce

Could the next era of retail see users co-creating brands’ virtual products and storefronts?

Nike is letting consumers design and sell their own virtual sneakers as part of Dot Swoosh, its new Web3-enabled platform. Nike describes the platform, which launched in beta in November 2022, as part virtual marketplace, part VIP loyalty community and part creator economy.

Nike has teased that Dot Swoosh’s community challenges will expand this year to include competitions in which members can win a chance to codesign virtual Nike products with the brand’s designers, even earning royalties on their sales. “We want to redefine what it means to be a creator,” said Ron Faris, VP/GM of Nike Virtual Studios.

Nike Digital is the brand’s fastestgrowing segment, now comprising over a quarter (26%) of the brand’s total revenue. Its virtual Nikeland experience on Roblox — which lets users customize their own Nike sneakers — had attracted 26 million people as of November 2022, and its Web3 products had generated $185 million in revenue as of August 2022.

Forever21 is inviting shoppers to curate and operate their own virtual storefronts on Roblox. Announced in December 2021, Forever21 Shop City introduces a new user-generated retail format. Users build, stock and operate their own virtual Forever21 franchises — managing everything from stocking inventory to assisting customers, operating the cash register, hiring employees and decorating their storefront windows. Why it’s interesting: The future of virtual retail will be co-creative. Creativity is becoming the new status symbol for the dawning Web3 era, and brands are adjusting their virtual activations to trade in creativity and co-creation alongside traditional products. Expect to see more brands democratizing “v-commerce” by offering creative control to their consumers.

About the Author: Emily Safian-Demers is an editor at Wunderman Thompson Intelligence.

QR Codes at Retail

Previously slow to take off, QR codes have gone mainstream. With help from the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed forth contactless solutions that connect physical and digital experiences, QR codes are seemingly everywhere today — P-O-P materials, packaging, billboards, circulars, restaurants and, more recently, streaming/TV ads. And more consumers are interacting with them too. About 89 million smartphone users in the U.S. scanned a QR code on their mobile devices in 2022, up 26% compared to 2020, according to a Statista study — which also projects that number would reach 100 million by 2025. With the increased usage of these scannable codes, brands and retailers have had time to experiment with new ways to leverage them. On the following pages, we present a sampling of how brands and retailers are using QR codes to create omnichannel marketing efforts and interact with consumers.

BY JACQUELINE BARBA

at Meijer directed shoppers to information on the campaign within the retailer’s website. 2

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Mars Inc.’s M&M’s utilized QR codes on national floorstands and quarterpallets promoting a massive “Flipping the Status Quo” campaign that spotlighted its female spokescandies and was intended to empower women. The displays stocked limited-edition packs at retailers, including Albertsons Cos. and Circle K, with a QR code linking to a campaign page within MMs.com. Additionally, a QR code on an account-specific violator

Bic promoted the launch of its EasyRinse razors by running a national instant-win game with overlays at multiple retailers. At Walmart, an endcap display stocks the new SKUs and promotes the game, with a QR code linking to the entry site Unclogged.Bic.com. Spotted in April, the display depicts comedian Eric Andre and actress Annie Murphy, who both starred in a Bic 30-second TV spot that aired in March for the SKU’s launch. 3

Commercial cleaning company Ecolab launched a retail product line, Ecolab Scientific Clean, exclusively at

WonderBar ® The System That Sells™

The Home Depot in February. The company used a QR code on a dedicated endcap display header to link to a brand showcase within HomeDepot.com where products could be browsed by both category and packaging type.

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Unilever ’s Persil is adding accessible QR codes (AQR), developed with AR solutions provider Zappar and the Royal National Institute of Blind People, to a range of packages. The goal is to create a more inclusive experience in stores and at home for the U.K.’s 2 million blind and partially sighted people. Scanning the enhanced AQR code on select product packaging provides product, usage, safety and recycling information in a structured way. The code also interacts with a smartphone’s configured accessibility features to display information in larger text or in audio-described and voice-guided formats.

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Through its Coca-Cola Creations innovation platform, The Coca-Cola Co. in February debuted its first limited-edition flavor of 2023 at retailers nationwide. Coca-Cola Move cans and bottles include an interactive QR code that serves as a portal to the Coca-Cola Creations hub, which features multiple cinematic experiences. Among them are behind-the-scenes content of Spanish singer Rosalia recording her song that was inspired by the drink, a music video and a personality quiz that creates custom 3D, metaverse-inspired avatars and playlists based on users’ responses. 7

Galderma Laboratories’ Cetaphil skincare brand launched a skin analyzer tool that offers personalized skin assessment scores and regimen recommendations in seconds using artificial intelligence. Consumers can access the Cetaphil AI Skin Analysis tool by scanning a QR code on the brand’s website and taking a bare-face selfie. The technology compares a user’s photo to a database of 70,000 diverse

skin images to create the customized report detailing one’s skin type, concerns and proneness to various skin conditions. 8

Vintage Wine Estates’ Bar Dog wine brand utilized a QR code to complement a recent exclusive activation at Kroger, depicting it on the brand’s Bark Mobile trailer, which made a number of stops at select Kroger stores. The QR code links to a landing page within BarDogWine.com that requests users’ information to receive exclusive information and offers. The trailer visited multiple stores in March, offering pet parents free dog tag etchings and a wine tasting.

Litehouse deployed a branded pallet display merchandising freeze dried chives at BJ’s Wholesale Club that depicted a QR code on the skirt as well as on corrugated shelf bins atop the display. The code invites shoppers to scan to learn more about freeze dried herbs and why they taste so great. The code links to a dedicated landing page within LighthouseFoods.com that illustrates why consumers should choose freeze dried herbs.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) Educational Foundation launched a P-O-P pilot program with Dollar General

in 2022 to help shoppers choose over-the-counter pain relievers from three CHPA CPG member companies: Haleon, Johnson & Johnson and Perrigo, maker of private label DG Health . The program includes educational signage at 19,000 Dollar General stores that drives shoppers to the CHPA foundation’s bilingual online OTC pain relief assessment using Vestcom’s data-integrated shelfAdz tags and QR code deeplink technology.

A four-sided, summer-themed pallet display at Kroger stocks a variety of sun care items from multiple brands and depicts a QR code under messaging inviting shoppers to “learn more sun truths.” The code links to a similarly branded landing page offering nine tips for sun and heat safety in the summer that users can view via links to dedicated webpages within all of Kroger’s chains.

Tech Tools

WE COVER THE TECH TOOLS THAT ARE DRIVING CONSUMER UNDERSTANDING, ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSION ALONG THE PATH TO PURCHASE.

BY BILL SCHOBER

In March, DoorDash announced that it was “optimizing” its search and discovery services within retail stores to more accurately track and report on a store’s in-stock position. While still seen primarily as a meal-delivery service, DoorDash accesses more than 100,000 non-restaurant stores in North America across its marketplace and drive platforms. Adding real-time in-stock information is seen as critical to meeting DoorDash’s offer to make some types of on-demand deliveries within an hour.

In April, American Eagle Outfitters and thredUP launched RE/AE, a resale shop of curated, second-hand American Eagle clothing. It is powered by thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS), which enables brands and retailers to deliver customizable, scalable resale experiences. An RE/AE Snapchat pop-up lets shoppers view the collection through an AR shopping lens that arranges items in the form of a vintage store. Clicking an item offers shoppers information on its sustainability impact.

The Official Black Wall Street (OBWS) app was a double winner in the recently announced “Webby Awards” for “Apps, dApps and Software: Shopping & Retail.” This category is defined as “mobile and OTT apps that provide consumers with online commerce, marketplaces and retail sales.” OBWS is a digital platform that lets shoppers review and shop Black-owned brands worldwide. It was named a 2023 Webby winner as well as the People’s Voice winner. A 2.0 app and platform are due to be released soon.

Displai , an augmented reality (AR) platform, recently launched a partner program for the packaging and print industries. The program enables these companies to leverage technology and support services when creating AR-style virtual experiences through packaging. The program includes access to Displai’s proprietary AR software, training and co-marketing opportunities.

Tapcart, Shopify’s mobile commerce platform, is collaborating with Uninterrupted to build a “no-code” mobile platform that would let brands design, launch and manage an app without requiring coding or even development work. Uninterrupted is an “athlete empowerment” brand within SpringHill, a production company founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, which enables pro players to become storytellers. The collaboration is launching with “The 300 Collection,” a clothing line inspired by Major League Baseball’s Mookie Betts and his passion for bowling and its sense of community.

Sune, an experiential shopping platform, recently launched a beta mobile app. Created by Live Shop Ventures and backed by parent Qurate Retail Group (owners of QVC and HSN, among others), it is aimed primarily at Gen Z shoppers hoping to engage directly with “under-discovered” products. Backers say it integrates videos and livestreams with traditional online and in-app shopping. Sune is available only for iPhone users at this time.

Snap has introduced a new service to its AR Enterprise Services (ARES) collection called “AR Mirrors.” The idea is to bring augmented reality experiences to life-size interactive displays at physical locations. Snap plans to partner with Coca-Cola to prototype an AR Mirrors-enabled vending machine that can be controlled via a shopper’s hand gestures. Nike recently tested AR Mirror technologies at one of its stores, enabling shoppers to learn about the “Swoosh High” campaign by “trying on” products and unlocking discounts.

Goodbuy is a browser-extension and app launch that aims to connect shoppers with brands whose values align with theirs. Goodbuy is an affiliate network that promotes participating Shopify stores that are small businesses; the extension is said to automatically reveal these brands to shoppers by placing them at the top of “mega retailer sites and searches.” There are no setup, product-click, selling or monthly subscription fees for the small business. Goodbuy takes 10% of each sale that’s made via the extension.

In mid-April, Chicago-born, Atlanta-based rapper Lil Durk announced the “public minting” of his 7220 NXTG3NZ “phygital” sneaker collection. The collection consists of 11,111 pairs (at $500 apiece) of custom-designed phygital sneakers on the Algorand blockchain. The collection allows holders of a 7220 token to wear their digital sneakers across multiple metaverses. However, the company will also “gift” each token-holder (in three to five months) with a physical pair of the sneakers so they can then “demonstrate their digital ownership” of the token out in the physical world.

Solutions & Innovations

Earlier this year, Patriot Shopper launched a database of 2 million products designed for shoppers searching for “Made in USA” items on e-commerce platforms, particularly Amazon. This browser extension prioritizes American-made products, putting them on top of search results. Another button eliminates products made in China from search results. Patriot Shopper plans to bring the browser extension to other e-commerce sites, including Walmart and Target , and to expand into the U.K., Japan, India and Germany.

The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag is testing ways to shift shopper behavior toward using reusable bags. Signage, marketing efforts and other customer prompts are appearing in the Denver and Tucson, Arizona, market areas. In a second effort, the Returnable Bag Pilot, CVS and Target are testing a returnable-bag service model: customers “buy” a bag at checkout that can be redeemed at participating stores for the $1 deposit. That bag will then be washed, redistributed and reused.

ReserveBar, an e-commerce platform for premium and luxury beverage alcohol, recently launched a tourism website called “Destination Distillery” with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. As part of its “e-commerce everywhere” strategy, the platform maps out state-by-state journeys into the history of various spirits categories that lets customers discover 42 “off-the-beaten-path” operating distilleries.

Bedrock Analytics has announced a platform upgrade dubbed “Automated Insights” that it says leverages “generative AI” to automate insights for CPG brands. Developed using Open AI’s ChatGPT, it directs the appropriate AI language models to run on particular datasets within the Bedrock Platform without requiring users to type in commands. Bedrock analyzes data in more than 170 product categories.

Pink Sauce Debuts as a Walmart-Exclusive

THE TIKTOK-FAMOUS, PINK-COLORED CONDIMENT HIT SHELVES IN JANUARY WITH PLANS FOR FURTHER EXPANSION.

BY SAMANTHA NELSON

Pink Sauce, a condiment that went viral on TikTok and Instagram last summer, launched exclusively at Walmart in January through a manufacturing partnership between creator Chef Pii and Dave’s Gourmet.

Chef Pii — who sports pink hair — initially packaged and sold the pink-colored sauce herself for $20 after gaining widespread attention with videos that showed her using it on a wide variety of foods, including fried chicken, tacos and shrimp. However, the product quickly sparked backlash from consumers, who questioned the accuracy of its ingredient list and complained about shipping issues.

The new version, manufactured by Dave’s Gourmet, is being sold in 13-ounce bottles for $7.78 exclusively at Walmart through July, when it will roll out to the rest of the market. The vegan and gluten-free condiment contains dragon fruit puree, coconut cream and ranch seasoning.

Chef Pii and Dave’s Gourmet promoted the launch with posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. In one TikTok post from Chef Pii, a video depicts her walking the aisles of a Walmart store in a shiny pink dress and matching plush shawl to find her product stocked in the condiment aisle near SKUs from brands such as Unilever’s Hellmann’s and Kraft Heinz Co.’s Kraft.

Dave’s Gourmet additionally drummed up support for the launch by running a sweepstakes from March 1-8 awarding four winners with a $250 Walmart e-gift card. Consumers entered by liking a designated Facebook post and tagging friends. They also needed to follow the brand on TikTok, Facebook or Instagram.

The target shopper for the product started as an influencer-motivated consumer who sees trends on social media and then wants to try the product, says David Neuman, CEO of Dave’s Gourmet. “We are evolving into a more mainstream retail shopper looking for something fun,” he says.

Dave’s Gourmet has been making product to

replenish shelves and meet demand for many months, Neuman says. The company expects to sell hundreds of thousands of bottles, he adds.

When asked why the brand decided to partner with Walmart, Neuman says the retailer “expressed immediate interest, as did others. But none could offer us the enormous store count and own e-commerce fulfi llment.”

Neuman has 30 years of experience selling to Walmart and admits it’s a challenge getting a brand’s product on shelf at the retail giant — “as it should be.” However, if a brand has something “their shopper desires and can make the numbers work, it’s an amazing experience,” he says.

Walmart additionally sells several Dave’s Gourmet pasta sauces and creamy hot sauces through Walmart.com and at select stores as part of the Pink Sauce partnership.

“Pink Sauce is our way to help newcomers to the food production and distribution world,” Neuman says. “As a result, many more brands have approached us to help them, too. Many were not a fit for us. A few will be coming to market this year, and we have more sauces in development.”

Pink Sauce is our way to help newcomers to the food production and distribution world. As a result, many more brands have approached us to help them, too.

— David Neuman, Dave’s Gourmet

2023 WEBINAR TOPICS

Featuring special retailer guests in each episode, join us for a dialogue about current trends and strategies that are driving innovation for the next era of retail.

In partnership with Great Northern Instore, the Path to Purchase Institute invites you to listen in to a discussion with executives from today’s leading retail chains, emerging brands and parallel industries as we dive into the issues impacting the evolution of retail.

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•Hear firsthand retailer insights and experiences navigating successes and challenges in the market

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•Explore the shifting dynamics that will impact commerce marketing across all channels of the retail arena

Sign up now to gain insights, get inspired and go enact change at your own organization with the learnings from Retail Intel 2023.