Retail Media, Real Talk.
Fresh insights, smart strategy, and the occasional snack metaphor—because driving sales shouldn’t be boring. Whether you’re a brand, a buyer, or just here for the trends, we decode what’s shaping the digital shelf (and who’s winning cart space).
Measuring What Matters: How Retail Media is Evolving Attribution
By: CLC Editorial Team For years, retail media has been sold on its measurability. Every impression, click, and conversion could be tracked down to the SKU. Compared to the fuzzy world of TV or even parts of digital, retail media felt like the Holy Grail: put in X...
When Agencies Play Both Sides: The Quiet Conflicts of Programmatic Media
By: CLC Editorial Staff The retail media boom has reshaped how brands spend marketing dollars, and agencies are jockeying to position themselves as indispensable partners. But as the lines blur between media buyers and media sellers, one uncomfortable reality is...
Why Long-Tail and Ingredient-Based Keywords Deserve a Bigger Role in Your SPA Strategy
By: CLC Editorial Staff In retail media, there's no shortage of focus on targeting precision, budget allocation, and return on ad spend (ROAS). But one of the most overlooked opportunities in Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) is how shoppers are actually searching—and how...
Should Anyone with First-Party Data Launch a Retail Media Network?
By: Closed Loop Confidential Staff Retail media is booming. Every headline, every investor call, every conference panel seems to be shouting the same thing: “First-party data is the future.” And that part is true. First-party data is powerful. It’s privacy-safe. It’s...
Why Retail Media Budgets Should Start With a Percentage of COGs
By: CLC Editorial Staff We’ve all heard the phrase “you have to spend money to make money”—but when it comes to retail media, too many brands are still playing budget limbo. How low can we go? isn’t a strategy. It’s a gamble. So here’s a radical idea (that really...
Retail Media Is Not a Tax (and Thinking It Is Might Be Hurting Your Brand)
By: Sarah McWilliams Guerra Let’s stop treating your most measurable marketing channel like a toll booth Every so often, in a quiet corner of a QBR or slipped into a budget review, someone says it: “Well… retail media is just a cost of doing business.” “It’s basically...
Confessions of a Retail Media Seller
By: Sarah McWilliams Guerra Pitching, pivoting, and the joy of an unmuted mic Let me start with this: Retail Media is the Wild West. Except instead of cowboy hats, we wear Blazers-Over-Graphic-Tees™, and instead of horses, we ride the chaotic highs and lows of QBR...
Private Label Is Having a Moment. But National Brands? You’ve Still Got Moves.
Private label products used to be what you bought when you were broke, brave, or both. They had a huge stigma associated with it – kind of like the ramen noodle college reference. Now in this economy, getting good deals is now a flex. Oh you love my new skirt, Shein,...