Split Budgets Are Holding Back Retail Media Growth

Retail media replaced the printed flyer, but the way brands plan for it hasn’t changed much. Budgets still roll over year to year like a trade expense, split across teams that each chase their own numbers. Wendy Salisko (WADE Advisory), who spent 22 years in enterprise CPG before co-founding a firm that advises challenger brands, joins Drew Cashmore (Chair, MiR) on this episode of Media Mondays to discuss what it takes to turn retail media into a source of growth. INSIDE THE EPISODE: Siloed budgets work against the brand Trade, shopper marketing, brand, and retail media dollars usually sit with different teams, each optimizing for its own KPI. The person buying retail media often has no say over the endcap or the depth of a discount, so no one can move the next dollar to where growth is. Brands that pull their investments into one view, or set aside a shared budget for experiments, give themselves room to try something new with retailers. Discovery now drives the choice Shoppers have grown numb to constant promotions, and in categories like beauty and wellness, more of them pick a brand based on what they discover, often before they reach the store. Many brands now build that demand on TikTok first and land on shelf later, yet shoppers often don’t know the brand is available there. Retail media can close that gap by telling shoppers what’s new in store. Challenger brands are the best test partners Retailers looking to innovate in retail media should start with challenger brands. These fast-growing brands move money across teams freely, worry less about immediate measurement, and are eager to co-create. Their budgets are smaller, but they let retailers test new formats, like creator campaigns, and prove them out before offering them to larger brands. Listen above to hear why smaller brands and retailers, the ones closest to shoppers, are likely to change retail media first.