Performance Marketing Unlocked

Retail media is no longer a plucky, upstart new channel. It's rode the first wave of investment and excitement, but now is the time to prove its staying power.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, host Joe sits down with two retail media experts, Ollie Shayer, Senior Director, Global Strategy and Innovation at SMG, and Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe, to talk about the future of the channel.

Recorded on the ground at Retail Media Summit UK 2025, the respective interviews dive into what the "second phase" of retail media is going to look like, from deployment of the channel in the UK versus the US to its growth prospects amid a turbulent economy.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

Ollie Shayer on his move to SMG and the challenges surrounding retail media (1:29)

Daniel Knapp forecasts retail media's future and talks differences between the UK and US (9:03)

~ Further reading ~

Six spicy predictions for retail media in 2026

Rory Sutherland explains everything wrong with performance marketing

Iceland expands retail media network through Epsilon partnership

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Rory Sutherland famously dislikes much of what performance marketing offers, acknowledging that while the lower-funnel is important, many marketers are "painting themselves into a performance corner" to justify their existence.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Sutherland explains what marketers are doing wrong and how they can better utilise performance-orientated data to generate sustainable brand building. He also outlines retail media's role in generating 'brandformance' and why the success of the frozen paratha should propel a return to frozen food in Britain.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

What's wrong with performance marketing? (1:48)

How retail media can build a bridge between brand and performance (23:15)

Why frozen food needs to make a return in Britain (31:31)

~ Further reading ~

Investing in performance marketing is not enough, a view from Rory Sutherland

Havas Market’s Alex Walker on navigating adland in a time of ‘information overload’

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With OpenAI officially seeking a 'Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer', it appears that ChatGPT becoming an advertising platform is finally upon us.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's editorial team dissect industry leaders' hot takes on the rumours, outlining how the innovation may impact marketers, whether or not competing large-language-models will follow suit, and how regulators can catch-up with generative AI's ever-growing expansion.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

What does adland make of ChatGPT's advertising potential? (1:26)

Are we about to see the formation of yet another monopoly? (13:39)

~ Further reading ~

ChatGPT ad plans revealed? OpenAI seeks ‘paid marketing’ engineer

‘A seismic shift’: How ChatGPT becoming an ad platform would impact adland

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The final quarter of the year is often a tense time for marketers. Despite the festive atmosphere, many get swept up in quarterly KPIs and a need to please the CFO with a short-term sales boost – but is this best way to make the most of peak season?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Suzanna Chaplin, founder and CEO of esbconnect, argues that a long-term approach focused on customer retention and first-party data collection is the best way to utilise Q4's annual spending surge.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

How can marketers and advertisers best deal with Q4's sales expectations? (2:14)

Which metrics matter most during peak season? (15:30)

PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge (25:35)

~ Further reading ~

PMW Retail Playbook 2025: Dreaming of an AI Christmas?

Where marketers should spend (and save) this Christmas

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Amazon and Netflix have joined forces with a deal that will soon see Amazon DSP granted access to Netflix’s premium ad inventory, expanding the pool of audiences available to Amazon Ads's clients.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, host Joe is joined my PMW's Editor, Robin Langford, and News Reporter, Reem Makari, to unpack exactly what this partnership means for the industry. From how it impacts competing DSPs and the broader open web, to what changes it will prompt among advertisers and consumers.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

Who wins and loses from Netflix and Amazon's partnership? (0:59)

How will this partnership impact consumers? (14:16)

~ Further reading ~

‘A win-win for advertisers, Netflix and Amazon’: Industry reacts to Amazon Ads’ partnership with Netflix

Amazon Ads and Netflix team up for programmatic buying on ad-tier audience

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Modern marketing is full of challenges, so much so, that leaders in the space often feel as if they are being set up to fail.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Paul Evans, founder and Chief Positioning Officer at V2RSION – a seasoned marketing specialist across brand, agency and client-side – offers marketing leaders a path through all of the industry muck.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

How can marketing leaders can succeed in the face of so much pressure? (0:48)

What channels do marketers young and old need to be leveraging? (14:50)

~ Further reading ~

Havas Market’s Alex Walker on navigating adland in a time of ‘information overload’

How to demonstrate and increase advertising’s impact

CMOs losing customers due to martech failures

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The future of advertising is always uncertain, but with AI innovating at breakneck speed, forecasting what the industry will look like in five years time is more challenging than ever... which is why PMW has done it for you.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's News Reporter Reem Makari joins host Joe to unpack AI's impending impact on marketing jobs, campaign targeting, and measurement. Also, the pair touch on Google's mounting legal battles and whether or not it really holds monopolies over both search and adtech.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

Answering AI's biggest marketing questions (1:12)

Is Google feeling the pressure from its ongoing legal battles? (15:32)

~ Further reading ~

3 tough questions on... AI

Pubmatic sues Google over adtech monopoly

EU fines Google nearly €3bn for abusing adtech dominance

‘A relative slap on the wrist’: Industry reacts to Google’s search monopoly remedies

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Savvy shoppers recently realised that Amazon's AI shopping assistant Rufus now uses memory signals, signalling the e-commerce giants' continued ambitions to innovate with automation.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing podcast, host Joe is joined by Sue Azari, e-commerce Industry Consultant at Appsflyer, to discuss AI's influence on e-commerce, and whether the technology is helping or hindering competition with industry giants such as Walmart and Amazon.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

Is AI further affirming Amazon's e-commerce dominance? (1:00)

What opportunities and threats is the e-commerce industry facing? (17:22)

PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge (25:20)

~ Further reading ~

Amazon Rufus’ memory upgrade signals ‘massive shift’ for e-commerce

Tech giants dominate list of world’s most valuable brands

Why Amazon will not devour advertising

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Meta is the latest tech giant facing allegations of foul-play with regard to its reporting of advertising performance, specifically that it inflated the ROAS of its Shops ads' tool by 17 to 19%, as alleged by a former employee.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing podcast, host Joe is joined by PMW's News Reporter Reem Makari and Premium Content Editor Jyoti Rambhai to break down exactly why advertisers' blind faith in big tech black-boxes can't go on.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

Did Meta inflate Shops ads' performance? (1:26)

How can brands compete with big tech? (15:56)

PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge (26:03)

~ Further reading ~

‘There are a lot of elephants in the room’: Industry reacts to claim Meta inflated Shops ads’ performance

Advertising without AI? That era’s over

Big tech Q2 earnings: Amazon, Alphabet, Netflix, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft

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AI has already changed most aspects marketing immensely, but perhaps no more than in search. With SEO now GEO, traffic, clicks and CTRs all falling off a cliff, what are we to do?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, host Joe is joined by Sarah Aird-Mash, CMO of Future Group (), who breaks down exactly what has happened to search, where it's headed in the future, and what marketers can do to respond.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

Which big tech platform had the best Q2? (1:19)

What drove growth in Q2? (18:38)

PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge (26:45)

~ Further reading ~

How do you judge creative campaign success in a zero click world?

1% click-through rate: How Google AI Overviews is killing publishers

Don’t fear the scraper: AI needn’t be a threat

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