SAN JUAN, PR — Is the advertising industry missing a trick by focusing on the delivery of retail media ads but not their content?
In the exploding world of retail media, some are coming to think the industry’s obsession with metrics and mechanics could be blinding it to the key ingredient for success – consumers don’t engage with ad placements; they engage with content that resonates.
In this video interview with Beet.TV at Beet Retreat San Juan 2025, Jacquelyn Baker, CEO, Omnicom Commerce Group, said: “Creativity is what breaks through and what reaches an audience. What they care about is what they care about. They want an answer to a question. They want a problem solved. They want to be entertained.”
Challenging the Traditional Funnel Model
Building a holistic experience is key, and it starts with understanding what the consumer is trying to do, Baker said. But that may also mean rethinking the industry’s established norms.
“(In the industry), we’ve created this model that is an excellent framework for planning, but it’s inherently built on a fallacy with this idea of the funnel and that upper funnel or awareness happens somewhere else and then transaction lower in the funnel happens at retail,” Baker said.
But consumers don’t make purchase decisions in two distinct phases. In fact, Baker said, half of them begin their journey with a retailer.
Retail Media’s Dual Role
“Over 50% of consumer searches for challenges that they’re trying to solve, seeking information, seeking that awareness, begin on retail.com,” Baker pointed out.
That means retail media is not just a bottom-of-funnel channel for converting to sales – it also has a role to play in generating top-of-funnel awareness, kicking off the process. The modern consumer journey has blended.
“Consumers are not experiencing brands somewhere else out in the world, then recalling that and then going to a retailer and opting to buy that at some future date,” Baker explained. “The world is very seamless. It’s very connected. Retail media is equally as critical for brand building as it is for transaction because both of those activities are happening simultaneously in the same places.”
You’re watching coverage from Beet Retreat San Juan 2025, presented by Cognitiv, Index Exchange & TransUnion. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
