This week's guest is Michael Reda, VP of Omni-Channel Marketing & Insights at T. Marzetti Company. Michael has transformed the company's digital and eCommerce strategy since joining in 2021. His previous brand management experience includes Conagra and Kraft Heinz.

Michael shares the things he can take risks on with smaller brands that aren't possible with larger ones (5:58), how analytics and creative are intertwined (12:27), the transformation of T. Marzetti's digital presence since 2021 (13:58), why retail media is an important part of their strategy (18:53), and what you need in order to switch from a few "great" pieces of creative to many "good" ones (26:04).

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelreda/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

Dave welcomes two luminaries on this week's episode: returning guest Lauren Livak Gilbert, Executive Director at The Digital Shelf Institute, and Nate Pinkston, Head of Growth, Retail Media at Microsoft.  The two recently authored a DSI & Microsoft advertising report, "Joint Business Planning (JPB) Between Retailers and Brands: Effective Optimization Strategies for Collaborative Growth."

They discuss why retail media is still "a reasonably immature medium and space" (5:56), how the tech stack varies across all the different retail media networks (10:37), the most important things to keep in mind for your retail media strategy (13:25), and highlights of the DSI/Microsoft JBP report (18:44).

Download the free report here: https://www.digitalshelfinstitute.org/report-dsi-microsoft-advertising-joint-business-planning

Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenlivak/
Connect with Nate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natepinkston/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

Dave closes out September with Gabe Wight, General Manager at 1WorldSync. Gabe's illustrious marketing career has taken him to several major agencies and organizations, and in 2019 he founded Webata, a software and analytics firm, which was acquired by 1WorldSync in 2023.

They discuss the story of Webata's founding (6:13), why you don't need an eComm degree to excel in the space (10:07), the amazing story of how Gabe got into marketing (16:08), the 3 things to keep in mind about content (20:13), and how 1WorldSync's algorithm helps clients optimize their SEO results within e-retailer platforms (22:56).

Connect with Gabe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-wight-23711038/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

Dave speaks with Brad Santanna, Head of Omnichannel Marketing, Strategic Customers, Insights & Analytics at The Hershey Company. Brad has been at The Hershey Company for his entire career - over 20 years! - a rarity in this day and age.

Dave and Brad discuss the disconnect in KPIs between online and in-store (10:02), the importance of targeting occasions and not just audiences (13:07), an overview of the successful Shaq=A-Licious Gummies launch (16:42), what the Hershey team is looking at over the next 12-24 months (21:36), and how the shopper journey is no longer linear (25:35).

Connect with Brad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-santanna-mba-4a32b411/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

This week we're joined by Jo Callahan, Vice President, Strategy and Insights at Bazaarvoice.  Jo's previous experience incudes Citi, Pinterest and Unilever, where she was Director of U-Studio, Unilever's storied in-house creative agency.

They discuss the creation of U-Studio (4:55), the definition of "fit for platform" (7:39), Bazaarvoice's evolution from a ratings and reviews organization to now offering many tools for creatives, influencers and marketers (13:19), creative best practices (20:35), and why the PDP should be considered a media asset (25:20).

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocolv/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

Dave catches up with another luminary from The Partnering Group (TPG) - this time, it's Partner Matt Pierre.  Matt has over 30 years of experience in the CPG space, most of it spent at General Mills, where he built and grew the organization's US eCommerce operations.

They discuss Matt's knack for predicting eCommerce trends before they happen (3:42), the challenges facing CPGs right now (7:39), an overview of his current role at TPG (11:28), why sales, marketing and ecomm need to constantly be working together (14:59), needing to understand the differences between the "spearfishing" and "full basket" eCommerce models (19:58), and the amazing work he does leading the Board of Directors for the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (28:46).

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-pierre/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker 

This week's guests are industry veterans Manish Sharma and Parag Shah, Co-Founders of Think Blue.  Their combined experience includes global leaders such as Kellogg, Wakefern Food Corp and The GIANT Company.

They discuss why the customer should always be at the center of your lens (4:45), their belief in the concept of joint value creation (12:11),  the meaning behind the name Think Blue (12:51), why the term "Omnichannel" is misleading (23:40), and the 4 pillars of retail media (28:54),

Follow Think Blue: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thinkbluesolutions/

Connect with Manish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishsharm/

Connect with Parag: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omnigrowthparag/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

Coming off of another wildly successful Prime Day, Dave spends this episode with Jeff Cohen, Principal Evangelist at Amazon Ads.  Jeff has nearly 20 years in the eCommerce space, cutting his teeth with Texbooks.com and CampusBooks.com before launching his own initiative, Seller Labs.  At Amazon, he is tasked with developing a best-in-class developer community for Amazon advertising APIs.

Jeff shares how his minors in Consumer Behavior and Sociology informed his professional marketing development (5:01), his experience in the eCommerce textbooks world (6:27), why it's important not to fear failure (17:08), what a day in the life at Amazon is like (22:19), and how Amazon has become much more than a conversion-focused platform (30:33).

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreycohen/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker 

Dave speaks with Aisha Khan from L'Oreal.  Aisha's previous experience includes J&J and Publicis Media.  They discuss why disappointing results are a "Who?" problem and not a "What?" problem (5:19), the continuing importance of off-site marketing (7:26), learnings from working at a big agency (12:04), how brands can keep up their momentum between now and the fall and holiday seasons (19:20), and their thoughts on creative testing (23:36).

Connect with Aisha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ecommercequeen/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker 

Dave speaks with Wendy Jean Bennett, Vice President of Retail Commerce Leadership at Tyson Foods.  Wendy Jean's storied career at Tyson has also included stints as VP of Retail - Case Ready Division and VP of Sales - Consumer Products.

Wendy shares insights on how she manages shifting roles within same organization (2:35), the 3 things she wants to be known for (8:50), the importance of utilizing your data for cross-team collaboration (15:19), strategies for bringing large teams together (21:06), and tactics for reaching consumers on their phones while they're in-store (25:01).

Connect with Wendy Jean on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-jean-bennett-5113216/

Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing [email protected] with code "BEYOND2024"

Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker