Retail Media Vibes

The retail media landscape is shifting at a breakneck pace, leaving many brands chasing every shiny algorithmic object while ignoring the actual infrastructure underneath. Speed is often mistaken for progress, but moving fast without a grounded strategy simply accelerates your mistakes. In this special 20th episode milestone, host Brandon Viveiros sits down for a comprehensive recap of recent powerhouse discussions to unpack how th...

Downtime is a profit leak and playing by the old rules of retail is a guaranteed way to get buried by legacy corporations. Navigating the modern marketplace requires a distinct level of agility, especially when smaller companies are expected to run the same race as industry giants without the same resources. We sit down with Allisha Watkins, CEO and founder of Paradox Retail, to break down how emerging brands can disrupt the status...

Wes participated in this conversation in a personal capacity. All views are his own.

The retail media industry is moving at a breakneck pace, but while the technology scales, the talent pipeline is hitting a massive bottleneck. We are operating in an environment where expectations for perfection are higher than ever, yet there is no "Retail Media School" to prepare the next generation of leaders. If we don’t figure out...

AI is raising the bar for everyone entering the workforce, and it’s also creating a lot of noise about what matters most. We recorded this conversation live from Heroes Coffee in Rogers, Arkansas to get grounded in the real question students are asking: how do I land my first role and thrive when the tools, titles, and expectations keep changing?

I'm joined by Dr. Anne Velliquette from the University of Arkansas (Walto...

Ads on a smart fridge sound like a punchline until you realize it’s already happening. We sit down live in Rogers, Arkansas, flip the script, and let Lindsey Hamm interview BV about where retail media, marketing, and AI are headed and what we might be breaking along the way.

We unpack why AI can be an incredible career amplifier while still being dangerously overused. BV explains how he uses AI for ideation, planning, ...

The “easy” part of e-commerce ended years ago. Now brands are expected to deliver perfect product content, navigate an increasingly crowded digital shelf, and prove performance across retail media while the rules keep changing underneath them. I’m joined by retail commerce expert Blake Taylor to break down what’s actually working right now and what’s quietly becoming non-negotiable for the next wave of...

Retail media is moving so fast that it’s easy to lose the plot, so I stitched together the strongest moments from recent conversations with Emma Curry, Aaron Campbell, Lindsay Hamm, Sarah Gillmer, and Toby Willse. The throughline is simple: new tools like AI and new channels like connected TV are powerful, but they only work when shoppers trust the message and teams inside the business stop working at cross purposes.

W...

What if smarter shopping isn’t about zero friction, but the right friction? We sit down with Amanda Danish-Wineland, SVP of Strategic Planning at Mars United, to unpack how AI and shopper psychology can actually make commerce feel more human. From Super Bowl ads that nailed the brief to the hidden driver of decision-making; risk. We trace the path from choice overload to real confidence, and why co-creating with agents beats ...

Leadership isn’t a title; it’s a set of choices you make when the ground won’t stop moving. That’s the through line of our conversation with Jessica Hendrix, former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X and a leader who’s navigated retail, agencies, and a CMO seat while keeping culture and clarity front and center.

We trace Jessica’s path from selling phones at a mall cart to guiding a global age...

The most expensive mistake in retail media isn’t bad targeting, it’s planning in silos. We sit down with media leader Toby Willse to map how the field evolved from banner buys to agentic commerce, why teams still talk past each other, and what it takes to turn retailer-specific wins into brand-level growth. From his design roots to ad tech tours through AOL and Millennial Media, Toby explains how creative strategy, data...

The year retail media stopped living on the product page and started shaping the whole journey came with growing pains, and big wins. We dig into what really changed in 2025: retail media going full-funnel with connected TV, social integrations, and creator programs, while brand and commerce teams finally learned to plan together. CTV’s role gets a sober look, yes, it’s premium and powerful, but it sits higher in the fu...

Nostalgia doesn’t just sell; it sticks. We sat down with Sarah Gillmer to explore how memory, family ritual, and pop culture can turn everyday products into emotional anchors, and why that approach still beats a thousand loud impressions. From Barbie’s cross-generational comeback to Nike’s retro magic and McDonald’s adult Happy Meal, we map when heritage fuels love and when brands risk costume-playing a past...

Live shopping is booming, just not equally everywhere. We tackle why China’s live commerce machine towers over the U.S. and what has to change for 2025: cultural expectations, seamless payments, and the invisible tech that makes “watch, want, buy” feel effortless. From the early QVC playbook to TikTok Shops, Amazon Live, and Whatnot, we break down where the channel wins, where it stumbles, and how to design stream...

Attention is scarce, noise is cheap, and shoppers are rewriting the rules. We sit down with brand and growth strategist Erin Campbell to map the new terrain: how to reach people who spend 13 hours a day with media yet crave less clutter and more connection. The core idea that anchors our exchange is simple and hard: tactics are table stakes, meaning is the moat. Erin breaks down how to identify the heart of your audience, connect i...

What happens when brand safety and speed meet the messy magic of real human influence? We bring on influencer marketer Emma Curry to explore where AI-driven creators can help, where they can harm, and how transparency keeps audiences on your side. From synthetic personas that never miss a talking point to the irreplaceable trust earned by human voices, we map the tradeoffs and share a practical framework: keep humans in the loop, u...

Missed the first five episodes? We stitched the best insights into one high-energy tour through what’s actually moving shoppers and budgets right now. From Halloween arriving in July to AI that can buy for you, we dig into the hits, the misses, and the money-makers.

We kick off with Summerween, where retailers extend the season and capture early spend without feeling forced. Then we shift to agentic shopping—the ...

A grocery disruptor is surging, hype is reshaping demand, and AI might quietly become your favorite holiday shopper. We sit down with Claire Reed to unpack Aldi’s value-first playbook, from lean operations and private labels to a smart Instacart partnership that skips building a retail media network from scratch. The takeaway: when quality meets price discipline, traffic follows, and Aldi’s store growth and rising visit...

Attention has moved where play lives, and that’s exactly where we go today. We sit down with Joel Ponce, CEO and co-founder of Hashku, to break down how gaming, retail media, and commerce now overlap in ways that actually move product. From Roblox and Fortnite worlds to mobile rewarded ads, we map the paths that turn fan energy into measurable outcomes like add-to-cart, store visits, and loyalty that lasts beyond the campaign...

Ever wish retail media dashboards told the real story? We pull back the curtain on how to measure what actually matters, not just what’s easy to count. Brandon welcomes Cassie Murray to unpack the messy truth about ROAS, why incrementality is a worthy but difficult North Star, and how inventory, placement, and profitability can quietly decide your campaign’s fate long before a single impression is served.

We get ...