The Amplify Effect: Retail Media the David Jones Way with Melissa Polglase

How does a 187-year-old department store turn heritage, customer loyalty, and in-store experiences into a futureproof retail media business?

In this episode of Commerce Media Matters, Nick and Paul are joined by Melissa Polglase, Head of Category Marketing and Retail Media at David Jones Amplify, who’s helping lead that very transformation. 

With brick-and-mortar no longer the sole destination for consumers to engage with brands or make purchases, retailers need to adapt and build omnichannel pathways to meet customers wherever they are. 

Melissa shares how David Jones is doing exactly that: tapping into its national store network, luxury brand partnerships, and rich customer data to build David Jones Amplify, a premium retail media offering. 

Listen closely as Melissa walks us through the ROPO behaviours shaping modern retail and what it takes to build a retail media network that’s not bolted on, but built in. 

In this episode, learn:

The Amplify advantage: The journey of David Jones' retail media arm, Amplify, and how it’s redefining retail media through premium store experiences, integrated channels, and omnichannel innovation

Planning for impact: What brands need to know about using first-party data, segmentation tools, and customer insights to deliver more personalised, full-funnel campaigns—and how to align media investments with measurable outcomes through closed-loop attribution.

Beyond the aisles: How retail media creates additional touchpoints across the buying journey, supporting research-online, purchase-offline (ROPO) behaviours both in and outside the store environment.

Double the opportunity:  Where endemic and non-endemic brands fit, and why both are key to the retail media mix

Learning from the best: What global leaders like Harrods and Nordstrom taught David Jones about building a premium media business

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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