Retail media is booming — but maturity isn’t evenly distributed. Lachlan joins Commerce Media Matters to cut through the hype and grey areas: misaligned incentives, messy data expectations, the “too many screens” problem, offsite extensions, and why we need better briefs, not more buzzwords. From IAB council work to hands-on network builds, he shares a pragmatic view on how retailers, brands, media agencies and tech partners can make retail and commerce media actually work together.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• First-party data as the real product: How data has become the new currency of media, and why retailers must treat it as an asset that powers smarter targeting, better measurement, and more meaningful customer relationships.
• Where everyone’s misaligned (and how to fix it): Retailers, brands, and agencies are still figuring out how to work together. From budget confusion to long-standing silos, Lachlan explains why they’ve been operating in different swim lanes, and what needs to change to bring everyone into alignment.
• Offsite done right: Why retailers can’t rely on onsite media alone and how using offsite channels can extend reach from a small share of e-commerce shoppers to almost their entire audience.
• Incrementality without the buzzword bingo: Why “incremental” is meaningless without context and why brands need to clarify what kind of Incrementality they’re chasing.
• Retail media vs. commerce media: Lachlan’s take on the two: retail media goes deeper with product-level insights, while commerce media goes wider, using more data sources for scale, explaining why both are essential to a connected media strategy.
• The realities of data sharing: Retailers can’t share everything. Understanding what’s commercially sensitive, what can be shared, and where the boundaries lie is key to building stronger partnerships.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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In this episode of Commerce Media Matters, Nick and Paul sit down with Kelly Wearmouth, a leader in the world of adtech and retail media. Her career has taken her from working with global brands like Unilever and Microsoft to helping shape Amazon’s advertising business. Now, as Managing Director at Mars United Commerce, she’s driving connected commerce and helping brands rethink how they reach consumers. Kelly shares her journey through adtech, insights on the evolving commerce media landscape, and strategies for brands to stay ahead.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Convergence from opposite ends: Traditional retailers are evolving in-store screens into broader digital capabilities, while digital-first retailers are expanding into physical environments, merging into one connected ecosystem.
• Friction is the silent killer: Removing every click, step, and barrier from sampling, browsing, and checkout can turn moments of inspiration into measurable momentum.
• B2B can be commerce-creative, too: Distributor networks and trade enablement demand new thinking, new training, and new activation layers beyond traditional media.
• Sensory overload: Too much in-store media risks overwhelming shoppers, and why retailers will need to curate their environments as inventory grows.
• Connected creative is a work in progress: The industry is still learning how to pull creative consistently across every touchpoint — and to bring contextual relevance to retailer data beyond ROAS.
• Consolidation is inevitable: As retail media networks fragment, shared infrastructure and marketplace partnerships will streamline access, measurement, and scale.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Recorded live at SXSW Sydney, this special crossover between Commerce Media Matters and Mind the Model podcast brings together Paul Blackburn, Nathan Guerra, and Emily Crone for a conversation about the collision of AI, commerce, and creativity.

From agentic shopping and retail media’s next evolution to copyright, deepfakes, and data power plays, the trio unpack how AI is reshaping the way we buy, sell, and tell stories. It’s equal parts thought-provoking, entertaining, and a little bit alarming — covering everything from ChatGPT’s commerce integration to the future of brand trust in an AI-driven era.

What you’ll learn from this episode

• AI-generated video’s double edge: powerful creative potential, but growing risks around trust, authenticity, and verification.
• Why premium content is more impactful than ever: how trust will become a competitive advantage in the AI era.
• The looming question of copyright and compensation: exploring how credit and references for original content could work with AI.
• Ad-funded AI models on the horizon: with rising compute costs, sustainable AI will hinge on advertising and commerce integrations, reshaping how brands, agencies, and creators show up.
• The future of shopping goes conversational: unpacking what agentic commerce really means for brands, retailers, and media owners.
• Data ownership and transparency in the AI era: who stands to gain as LLMs rewrite the rules of first-party ecosystems.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Nick Morgan and Paul Blackburn welcome strategist, writer, and retail-media advisor Colin Lewis for a rapid-fire tour through creativity in retail media, why “conversion everywhere” should be your mantra, and how AI & LLMs are reshaping search and shoppability. Drawing on decades of experience in strategy, teaching, and marketing leadership, Colin makes the case that innovation is everywhere—and that retail media is its own channel with its own language.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Creativity is a mindset, not a media format: True innovation in retail media lies in rethinking how networks are structured, scaled, and sold—not just how ads look on screen.
• Think like a media company, not a retailer: To scale, retailers must think like media companies: get C-suite buy-in, hire media sales, align trade, ecomm, ops, and stores, and manage change.
• The Era of Conversion Everywhere:  Shoppable formats reduce the distance from inspiration to purchase across on-site, off-site, and in-store, without sacrificing brand building.
• AI’s next frontier: LLM optimisation will upend “search” habits; brands need brilliant basics plus new skills to be searchable by LLMs.
• Mind the Fab Four: Brand, Trade, Shopper, and Digital often operate in silos; retail media forces new ways of working.
• From co-op to accountable media: Expect trade/coop budgets to fold into retail media with demands for ROAS, incrementality, and closed-loop outcomes.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Commerce Media Matters hosts Nick Morgan and Paul Blackburn welcome Kiri Masters onto the podcast to chat about all things retail media – or is it commerce media these days?

That topic is the underlying debate of this episode, as IAB recently consolidated the definition and categorisation of commerce media.

As a retail media pioneer, and fellow podcaster with her Retail Media Breakfast Club show, Kiri offers her expert insight into this new framework and challenges some preconceptions.

These include questioning the relevance of ROAS as a success metric and whether retail media networks have reached a saturation point. As Kiri points out, these topics are not “zero-sum” and require nuance to unpack, rather than absolute statements.

Agentic AI is also discussed, with varying degrees of caution for its potential impact. Kiri recognises it could be as much a friend as it is a foe; Nick sees it in the midst of the hype cycle, while Paul thinks it still has opportunities to bring benefits.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Data defines commerce media: While opinions may differ over defining commerce media, the unifying factor is that it’s data-driven to achieve outcomes.
• Retail media’s continued rise and evolution: Retail media is no longer a niche for marketers – by extension, commerce media will become a standard “hygiene” factor for campaigns.
• Measurement beyond ROAS: defining retail media success through ROAS is flawed, as it doesn’t account for other campaign objectives, such as brand uplift.
• Agentic AI’s existential threat to retail media: AI and LLM platforms could potentially remove the exclusive advantage retailers have with their first-party data, and reduce monetisation opportunities.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Our Commerce Media Matters hosts, Nick Morgan and Paul Blackburn, take a look back on the biggest commerce media moments of 2025 so far.

With Paul moving from publisher world to startup life at Vudoo, he brings insights from both sides of the industry. Nick puts him in the hot seat to unpack what went down on the Croisette during Cannes Lions –  from standout creative moments to commerce media’s growing influence on the global stage.

They discuss the year’s big picture trends, laying out what they expect to see from retailers and marketers in the months and years ahead. Again, underpinning these changes is the continued importance of creativity: from the actual content itself to implementing new tools and strategies.

Data, AI, TikTok, and targeting – all the hot topics are in this episode. And they’ll definitely be discussed in every industry event for a while yet.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Creativity at Cannes and beyond: Creativity is the way to elevate brand messaging in retail and commerce media strategies, which can be unlocked with new tools like AI.
• Retail media’s continued rise and evolution: Retail media is no longer a niche for marketers – by extension, commerce media will become a standard “hygiene” factor for campaigns.
• Resetting targeting: marketers have access to a wealth of data and tools, but understanding the context in which to target is most important. Overtargeting can actually cause datapoints to conflict.
• New roles for agencies: While agencies at large are facing change and challenges, they still play vital roles in executing commerce media strategies.
• AI and SEO disruption: AI platforms have fundamentally changed the way consumers search and shop, requiring marketers to adapt by showing up closer to the point of purchase.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Alex Brownsell, Head of Content at WARC Media & Digital Commerce, enters the Commerce Media Matters booth to unpack the trends he’s observed and the industry directions he’s forecasted.

From the rise of “commerce everywhere” to the ongoing frustrations around measurement and standardisation, one hot topic keeps showing up: the never-ending debate between brand and performance. Has the line finally blurred for good?

As these trends play out, Alex believes that the industry still needs to solve some bigger challenges as the overarching commerce media phenomenon takes place. From budget shifts to new channels and measurement standards – especially data – there is still a lot of work to do.

Be all ears for Alex’s findings to learn the A to Z and CTV of commerce media to prepare for the future of the industry.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Where WARC Media sees global advertising and commerce shifts: the biggest growth is happening where media and commerce intersect, especially in retail, CTV, and social. 
• Performance outcomes underlying commerce media: in times of economic uncertainty, tangible results – like commerce – still rule the roost.
• Commerce can happen anywhere and everywhere: new channels and technologies combined with the commerce media approach are unlocking opportunities previously unavailable.
• The growing need to value content quality and premium environments: there’s increasing pressure to prioritise premium environments as the industry moves beyond blanket CPM buying.
• The role of AI in reshaping performance and brand marketing: how AI is speeding up performance marketing while raising new challenges around creativity, transparency, and long-term brand growth.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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How does a 187-year-old department store turn heritage, customer loyalty, and in-store experiences into a futureproof retail media business?

In this episode of Commerce Media Matters, Nick and Paul are joined by Melissa Polglase, Head of Category Marketing and Retail Media at David Jones Amplify, who’s helping lead that very transformation. 

With brick-and-mortar no longer the sole destination for consumers to engage with brands or make purchases, retailers need to adapt and build omnichannel pathways to meet customers wherever they are. 

Melissa shares how David Jones is doing exactly that: tapping into its national store network, luxury brand partnerships, and rich customer data to build David Jones Amplify, a premium retail media offering. 

Listen closely as Melissa walks us through the ROPO behaviours shaping modern retail and what it takes to build a retail media network that’s not bolted on, but built in. 

In this episode, learn:

The Amplify advantage: The journey of David Jones' retail media arm, Amplify, and how it’s redefining retail media through premium store experiences, integrated channels, and omnichannel innovation

Planning for impact: What brands need to know about using first-party data, segmentation tools, and customer insights to deliver more personalised, full-funnel campaigns—and how to align media investments with measurable outcomes through closed-loop attribution.

Beyond the aisles: How retail media creates additional touchpoints across the buying journey, supporting research-online, purchase-offline (ROPO) behaviours both in and outside the store environment.

Double the opportunity:  Where endemic and non-endemic brands fit, and why both are key to the retail media mix

Learning from the best: What global leaders like Harrods and Nordstrom taught David Jones about building a premium media business

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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We’re taking a brief detour from our regular commerce media track to tackle the topic du jour: AI.

In this episode, we’re joined by John Blackburn AO—one of the leading voices in national security. As a strategic advisor to the AI CoLab Alliance in Canberra, John brings sharp insight into one of the most pressing and widely debated technologies of our time: AI.

He explores the evolving relationship between humans and AI, a technology that’s rapidly transforming how we interact, communicate, and work. Rather than shying away from its complexity, he encourages us to look under the hood and better understand how AI operates. While he cautions against blind acceptance of its outputs, he reinforces that AI is most powerful when it enhances—rather than replaces—human intelligence.

Hear from one of the most informed voices in the space as we unpack how AI is opening up new possibilities—and why approaching it with curiosity, responsibility, and a human touch will shape its most meaningful impact.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Understanding bias within AI: John discusses how AI’s data inputs often reflect Western and male-centric perspectives, and why recognising these biases is essential to using AI effectively across different contexts and cultures.
• The current limitations of AI: While the technology is advancing quickly, AI still faces challenges like interpreting the temporal context of source material, necessitating the need for human oversight.
• The importance of human input: AI can be a powerful assistant, but it’s most effective when paired with critical thinking and human decision-making.
• How businesses can best use AI: From building trust to protecting user data, businesses have a key role in ensuring AI is used in ways that are both innovative and safe.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Grant Johnstone, Chief Marketing Officer at ACE Radio, enters the Commerce Media Matters booth to reflect on nearly four decades of being on the air. 

Contrary to popular belief, video has not killed the radio star. In fact, Grant argues audio is stronger than ever and has proven itself to be a powerful platform in the commerce media world. 

He explains that the format has evolved from “spots and dots” to a sophisticated medium that can influence buyer behaviour right up to the checkout.

The formidable capabilities of modern radio should not be underestimated – if anything, it deserves fresh attention.

Listen up to learn how leading brands are fine-tuning radio as part of their commerce media mix to execute effective campaigns that’ll stick in audience ears.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Traditional media’s continued role in growing commerce media: the traditional format of broadcast radio and its established audience makes it a prosperous advertising platform
• Radio’s unique ability to influence consumer behaviour: how powerful audio call-to-actions can change behaviours in real time.
• The importance of creatives in effective advertising: attention is the ultimate currency in advertising and strong creative captures it.
• Respecting the advertiser-audience relationship: personalised advertising will help engagement but too much of it will see brands dropped like a hot potato.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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