Beyond The Shelf

Our BTS Live from the Commerce Media Brand Summit miniseries concludes with Shawn McGahee, Sr. Director, Performance and Insights at Roundel.Shawn speaks with Dave about the growing maturity of retail media — from a focus on ROAS to a deeper emphasis on incrementality, measurement, and real business outcomes.He shares how Roundel is approaching measurement through a portfolio of testing methods, why brands need to start with clear business objectives, and how retail media insights — especially from creative — can extend beyond campaigns to influence broader strategy.Connect with Shawn on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Our BTS Live series continues - this time from Shoptalk 2026!  In this minisode, Dave speaks with Manish Sharma from Think Blue about the next phase of AI in digital commerce.As AI moves beyond experimentation, the focus is shifting toward workflow automation, productivity gains, and measurable business impact.Manish shares how he’s seeing this evolve across brands, retailers, and technology partners — and why the next step is proving real, scalable value across the ecosystem. Connect with Manish on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This episode is part of our BTS Live miniseries, featuring quick conversations recorded on the show floor at the WBR Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.Dave speaks with Collin Colburn of the IAB about the next phase of retail media maturity.As the space evolves beyond rapid growth, the focus is shifting toward omnichannel integration, improved measurement, and greater transparency.Collin shares how brands are connecting retail media with channels like CTV and social, why incrementality remains a key priority, and how gaps in measurement transparency continue to hold the industry back.He also highlights a growing opportunity around creative — as retail media expands beyond lower-funnel performance into full-funnel engagement.Connect with Collin on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This episode is part of our BTS Live miniseries, featuring quick conversations recorded on the show floor at the WBR Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.Dave speaks with Jack Kneuper of Perdue Farms about the evolving role of performance marketing in a fragmented, omnichannel landscape.As the traditional funnel breaks down, brands must ensure every touchpoint — from CTV to retail media to in-store — is working together to drive results.Jack shares how Perdue is prioritizing creative quality across channels, leaning into more authentic content to engage younger audiences, and using AI to automate reporting and improve operational efficiency. Connect with Jack on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This episode is part of our BTS Live miniseries, featuring quick conversations recorded on the show floor at the Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.Dave speaks with Skye Frontier of Incremental about the evolving role of measurement in retail media.As budgets expand beyond shopper and trade into brand investment, brands are being held to a higher standard — shifting from ROAS to incrementality and focusing on true business impact.Skye shares how brands are moving beyond last-touch attribution, embedding new measurement frameworks across workflows, and rethinking how retail media drives growth across the full portfolio.Connect with Skye on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This episode is part of our BTS Live miniseries, featuring quick conversations recorded on the show floor at the Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.Dave speaks with Celia Van Wickel of Russell Stover about how brands are evolving their commerce media strategies — from expanding search across retailers to shifting KPIs beyond ROAS toward share of voice, new-to-brand, and incrementality.She also shares how her team is scaling retail media and digital shelf content with limited resources, and how Russell Stover is partnering with It’sRapid to streamline creative production, adapt content across retailers, and drive more consistent performance across seasonal campaigns.Connect with Celia on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This episode is part of our BTS Live miniseries, featuring quick conversations recorded on the show floor at the Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.Dave speaks with Michele McNamara, Director of Digital Commerce & Omni Activation at Newell Brands, about how brands are thinking about measurement, incrementality, and mobile-first shopper behavior.They also discuss Newell’s work with It’sRapid on mobile hero imagery, and how optimizing for mobile discoverability is helping drive stronger performance with retail partners, by making products easier to find and more relevant in the moment.Connect with Michele on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This episode is part of our BTS Live miniseries, featuring quick conversations recorded on the show floor at the Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.In this minisode, Dave speaks with Andrew Groom, Senior Director of Digital Marketing and Ecommerce at The Wine Group, about how AI is helping brands optimize audiences and creative, and how the company is partnering with It’sRapid to accelerate campaign development and ecommerce content iteration.They also discuss innovation in ready-to-drink beverages, managing large product portfolios across retailers, and how digital campaigns are increasingly connecting with in-store moments.Connect with Andrew on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidIs your PDP ready for AI? Get Your Free PDP Readiness AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave sits down with Joe Lamberson, Director of Digital Initiatives & Partnerships at Acosta Group, to discuss how brands can modernize digital shelf execution and keep up with rapidly rising retailer expectations.With Acosta supporting thousands of brands across retail and ecommerce, Joe has a unique perspective on the operational challenges brands face—from content creation and item setup to retailer scorecards and image requirements.A major theme of the episode is the Acosta × It’sRapid partnership, and how automation is helping brands scale digital shelf content creation while maintaining quality and compliance.They discuss:Why digital shelf content refresh has become an always-on processHow AI is helping brands break the speed / quality / cost tradeoff in content creationThe growing importance of mobile hero images and retailer scorecardsHow Acosta works with technology partners like It’sRapid to help brands scale content executionWhy image creation, visual analytics, and automation are becoming essential capabilitiesWhat generative search and AI could mean for product discoverabilityConnect with Joe on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidGet the It’sRapid Creative Automation PlaybookTake It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI surveyEmail us at sales@itsrapid.io to find out how to get your free AI Image AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This week on Beyond the Shelf, Dave sits down with Stephen Shepherd, Head of Strategy & Consulting at Tesco Media, to explore how retail media has evolved from a tactical revenue stream into a strategic growth engine.With nearly two decades in the space — beginning with Dunnhumby’s early retail media initiatives — Stephen brings a data-first perspective to how retailers and brands should think about customer experience, creative, and measurement.In this episode, Dave and Stephen discuss:Why retail media must stay customer-first (not tech-first)The “win-win-win” model: retailer, brand, and customerHow creative storytelling and data science overlapThe importance of micro-decisions across the customer journeyWhere AI is quietly solving operational complexityWhy ROAS may not be the right north star anymoreConnect with Stephen on LinkedInFollow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedInLearn More about It'sRapidGet the It’sRapid Creative Automation PlaybookTake It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI surveyEmail us at sales@itsrapid.io to find out how to get your free AI Image AuditTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker