Episodes from The Middlemen Podcast

The End of Rented Identity — Nikhil Raj, MetaRouter

From Walmart to MetaRouter: why retailers no longer need third-party identity or loyalty programs to power retail media.

Costco Retail Media Comes to Google — Mark Williamson

By aligning its data infrastructure, Costco can connect offsite signals and become available earlier in the consumer journey.

When Traffic Moves, Commerce Resets — Sharon Gee, Commerce

Sharon Gee explains how feeds and data shape commerce as traffic moves across search, social, marketplaces, and answer engines.

The Commerce Media Flywheel, Mark Grether, PayPal

How PayPal is turning payments infrastructure into a merchant-first commerce media model.

Who Controls the Grid? Andreas Reiffen, Pentaleap

Who controls the grid? Exploring paid vs organic ranking and the rise of compound margin in retail media.

Commerce Media is a Layer (Not a Channel) — Conor McKenna, Luma Partners

Conor McKenna of Luma Partners on commerce media as a layer, retail media’s hype cycle, and what it takes to reach true performance.

From Casual to Causal: Proving In-Store Works with Liz Roche of Albertsons

How Albertsons uses validated impressions and real foot traffic to scale in-store retail media with confidence.

CES + NRF 2026: How In-Store Retail Media Is Changing

A CES + NRF banded-pack episode on why in-store retail media is changing—and how scale, pragmatism, and shopper flow shape what works.

Why TV operators love CTV + Retail Media: Alex Holtz, IDC

Alex Holtz (IDC) on CTV + retail media: FAST platforms, data/identity, GenAI creative, and where ad budgets could shift.

Holiday End Cap

Lessons from 35 retail media conversations—and how they’re shaping in-store, offsite, and federation in 2026

Mastering the four corners of Retail Media with Kiri Masters

Retail media is bigger than ads: Kiri Masters breaks down the 4-corners framework and why most players still think in MarTech terms.

The Virtual Grocery Chain: How Independent Grocers Aggregate for National Scale

Why independent grocers were overlooked in retail media—and how RSA and Inmar use aggregation and incentives to unlock national scale.

The Audience Enabler — Praveen Menon, Rippl

Praveen Menon of Rippl explains retail identity, closed-loop measurement, CTV, and why federated retail media networks matter.

Are PLAs Enough? — Ari Paparo

Ari Paparo on why PLAs fall short, how retail media is repeating old ad-tech debates, and what modern ad serving should be.

Doing More with Less - Austin Leonard, Dollar General Media Network

Austin Leonard breaks down how Dollar General built an investment-grade retail media network with national scale and real omnichannel identity.

Orchestration Is Much More Than We Think - Drew Cashmore, Vantage

Drew Cashmore breaks down orchestration, trade, and the future of retail media — and why retailers need better collaboration to compete with Amazon.

Building the One-Stop Ad Shop: Bobby Watts, Ahold Delhaize USA

Bobby Watts reveals how Ahold Delhaize is building an AI-powered, omni-channel retail media platform for grocery.

Retail Media Isn’t Performance Yet — Jon Flugstad of Moloco

Jon Flugstad of Moloco joins The Middlemen Podcast to discuss how AI and ad serving are redefining performance for retailers in the next era of retail media.

Retailers, Don’t Put the Full Burden on Brands — Molly Hjelm, Ace Hardware’s Red Vest Media

Molly Hjelm of Ace Hardware’s Red Vest Media on why retailers must share the marketing load with brands and bring true enterprise support to retail media.

From Amazon Evangelist to the Omnichannel Future of Retail Media - Jeff Cohen, Skai

Jeff Cohen breaks down the shift from Amazon’s category-creation era to an omnichannel future where connected channels drive growth

Retail Media Must Be Planned, Not Allocated — Brian Monahan - Albertsons Media Collective

Brian Monahan, SVP of Albertsons Media Collective, joins The Middlemen to discuss why retail media must be planned, not allocated — and how Albertsons is reimagining the store as a media canvas.

Stop Waxing Poetic: Sarah Marzano of eMarketer on In-Store Retail Media

Cut through the hype with Sarah Marzano on commerce media, in‑store tech & evolving retail narratives.

Who’s Buying? A Sell-Side View with Shay Brog of Burt

Shay Brog, CEO of Burt Intelligence, shares how Burt’s data tools help publishers and retail media networks gain clearer insights, benchmark performance, and discover new sales opportunities.

Retail Fluency - Claudia Johnson - Flywheel Commerce Network

Claudia dives into the rising importance of retail fluency to stay ahead in today’s fragmented commerce landscape.

Parking Lots & AI Recipes: Shopper Marketing's Future with Josh Ginsberg

Josh Ginsberg of Breaktime Media joins The Middlemen Podcast to discuss how shopper marketing is shifting from basic promotions to immersive, AI-driven brand experiences.

Sunshine by a Thousand Pinholes: Offsite Media’s New Era with Scott Messer

Scott Messer of Messer Media joins The Middlemen Podcast as a new host, bringing the publisher perspective to a discussion on how new signals and transparency are reshaping media quality in offsite and retail media.

Why UK Retail Media remains ahead of the US - Sean Crawford, SMG

Sean Crawford of SMG joins The Middlemen Podcast to reveal why UK retail media leads the US, with insights on holistic buying and the evolution of retail media networks.

Programmatic Finds a Way - Koddi's Harsh Jiandani

Harsh Jiandani, President and Chief Commercial Officer at Koddi, discusses the evolving landscape of programmatic retail media, highlighting both its current challenges and emerging innovations.

Lean Back, We Got This: Marcus Pratt on Agencies and Offsite Retail Media

Marcus Pratt, SVP at Mediasmith, shares his expert insights on the evolving landscape of off-site retail media.

Kroger’s Big Screen Moment - Christine Foster

Kroger’s bold new partnership with Barrows unfurls a new canvas for in-store media, blending digital innovation and experiential design to transform the grocery shopping experience.

Criteo's Long Game - Sherry Smith

Sherry Smith, Managing Director of the Americas at Criteo, provides a solution to the fragmentation in the retail and commerce media industry

Permission to Measure Outcomes Across Retailers – Ben Kartzman, Attain

Attain COO Ben Kartzman joins to discuss how Attain collects permissioned data from its portfolio of apps and measure outcomes across retailers and publishers.

How Cool CPG Brands Buy Retail Media with Eleanor Hayden

Eleanor Hayden, a hands-on expert in retail media for emerging brands, shares practical insights on how indie CPG companies navigate and optimize retail media strategies

A DSP that returns my calls - Jeremy Woodlee, Infillion

A candid conversation with Jeremy Woodlee of Infillion explores the revival of MediaMath’s DSP and its impact on the evolving retail media landscape.

In-Store Media brings a veteran to the plate, Sean Cheyney, Vistar Media

Sean joins to discuss Vistar’s acquisition by T-Mobile and how Vistar provides practical ways to think about integration, infrastructure, costs and KPIs for in-store retail media

Marc Walkin of QSIC - High Fidelity for Every Aisle

Marc Walkin, CMO of QSIC, joins The Middlemen Podcast to discuss how in-store audio is being reinvented as a powerful, data-driven retail media channel.

Don't Overthink In-Store Retail Media - Marlow Nickell, Grocery TV

Grocery TV CEO Marlow Nickell joins the Middlemen Podcast to discuss why simplicity, not over-engineering, is the key to unlocking the true potential of in-store retail media.

Trade is Eating Retail Media - Troy Townsend, CEO of Zitcha

Troy Townsend joins The Middlemen Podcast to talk about how Zitcha's platform can help retailers manage both Trade and Retail Media

Retail Media in Warehouse Mode - Costco's Mark Williamson

Mark Williamson, AVP of Retail Media at Costco, talks member-first culture and the primacy of the merchant team and how that shapes its approach to retail media

Your Ears are Always On - 7-Eleven Gulp Media, Qsic & Media Ads & Commerce

This episode introduces audio retail media at convenience stores, featuring 7-Eleven Gulp Media, Qsic, and Andrew Lipsman

History of Retail Media 4, dunnhumby edit - Peter Bond of the CPG Guys

Peter Bond of the CPG Guys joins The Middlemen Podcast to explore how loyalty data and dunnhumby’s partnership with Kroger shaped the evolution of retail media.

Horizon Built a Multi-Retailer Ad Platform? Dr. Ram Singh of Night Market

Horizon Media’s Dr. Ram Singh unveils Night Market’s NEON platform for multi-retailer ad buying for agencies and brands.

Can Financial Media Networks aggregate retailers? Tom Burgess, Snipp

Financial Media Networks are hot, but Snipp has an interesting twist to get to SKU level data

The House of Insurgent Brands - Thrasio CEO, Dave Johnson

Thrasio CEO Dave Johnson reveals how he’s rebuilding the e-commerce giant after its meteoric rise, bankruptcy, and now, a bold new strategy for managing a modern “house of brands.”

Creators are coming to Retail Media - Obviously's Mae Karwowski

Mae Karwowski, founder of Obviously, shares how the creator economy is transforming retail media and what it means for brands, agencies, and creators today.

Creative is Half the Battle, Matt Krepsik, MediaRadar

Matt Krepsik, CEO of MediaRadar, joins to share how creative is the driving force behind advertising success

Do You Know Your Reach Rate? Joe Dressler of Adform

Ad tech veteran Joe Dressler joins The Middlemen Podcast for a candid Thanksgiving roundtable on the buzzwords, challenges, and future of retail media and audience measurement.

Snowflake's Prabhath Nanisetty tells us to stop moving data

Snowflake Retail Industry Lead Prabhath Nanisetty joins The Middlemen Podcast to break down what Snowflake actually does!

In-Store Retail Media with Trevor Sumner of Raydiant

Trevor Sumner of Raydiant joins to explore how interactive in-store digital media is transforming the shopper experience

Friendship with Meta is Priceless - Carlos Garcia, Meta CPG Director

Meta CPG Director Carlos Garcia unpacks the evolving partnership between Meta and CPG brands and explains how creative diversity is reshaping digital advertising

Does Grocery Search Actually Work? Blutag's Shilp Agarwal & Clive Humby on Gen AI Search

We explore how generative AI and conversational search are transforming grocery shopping

Keith Bryan on launching BestBuy's RMN & why Retailers will buy Publishers

Veteran retail media strategist Keith Bryan shares the inside story behind launching Best Buy’s Retail Media Network

Neuralift's Jonathan Mendez - ok you have a CDP, so what?

Jonathan Mendez shares how his experience with the limitations of customer data platforms led him to develop AI-driven solutions for smarter customer segmentation.

Another Nike take, Teads-Outbrain, & Walmart Non-Endemic

Tom and Todd dive into Nike’s controversial DTC pivot, analyze the Teads-Outbrain merger, and explore Walmart’s non-endemic push.

Nielsen IQ's Xavier Facon - Stop inventing tech & put the puzzle pieces together

Xavier Facon explains how retailers can unlock the true potential of retail media.

Kevel's James Avery - Retail Media is just the perfect native ad

We're very excited to have our first guest on the Middlemen, James Avery, CEO of Kevel.

Shopify Part 2

We talk about Shopify's partnership with Target Plus

Shopify Part 1

Why D2C brands choose Shopify, and expert insights on real costs, customization, and the importance of owning your customer data.

Retail Media Series Part 3 -The Oracle

The History of Retail Media Part 2 - The Current State of Retail Media

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Bonus Episode - SLAP Happy!

We untangle lots of ad tech jargon

The History of Retail Media

By looking back we can remove some of the confusion that comes from current discussions of retail media that seem to consider retail media a new thing.

A Colossal Misunderstanding?

Another ad tech scandal based on questionable tactics with cookies, this time from Colossus SSP

The Middlemen Podcast Episode 1: MFA

Made For Advertising Sites are getting some unwanted scrutiny