From the Retail MediaX Podcast with Internet Retailing
Retail media is reshaping the future of brand engagement, and agencies that don’t evolve risk falling behind. In this episode of Retail MediaX, Colin Lewis is joined by Prateek Gupta, Managing Director of e-commerce and Retail Media at Omnicom Media Group, and Uche Ofili, Head of Agencies at SMG. Together, they issue a clear call to action: agencies must move beyond traditional media buying and embed themselves in the commerce-driven future.
Here are the top five takeaways from their conversation.
1. Agencies Face Both Technical and Qualitative Challenges
Retail media comes with new complexities—from fragmented tech stacks to limited access to retailer-owned data—and many agencies are still adapting.
“From agencies’ point of view, you can club the challenges into core two parts. The technical challenges and there’s a qualitative element to it. The technical challenges… we’ve heard a lot about… all the detailers having their own tech stacks… The qualitative aspect, which is sometimes not discussed very often in large forums, is the actual way of working between the brand and retailer has really not evolved.” — Prateek Gupta
These challenges are compounded by outdated planning structures that separate trade agreements from media conversations, making true integration difficult to achieve.
2. Retail Media Is Still Misunderstood Within Agencies
Retail media is often perceived as purely bottom-funnel, with limited awareness of its broader strategic potential.
“There is this notion within agency that retail media is only kind of bottom funnel, lower funnel, conversion-led, conversion-driving. I also think education plays a huge part in it… There are pockets within agencies that understand it, but outside of that, it’s quite limited.” — Uche Ofili
That misunderstanding contributes to its treatment as an add-on rather than an integrated part of the media strategy.
3. Retail Media Is Often Treated as an Add-On—and That’s a Problem
Structural silos on both the brand and retailer side lead to disjointed briefs and duplicated efforts.
“Some of the largest pitches that happen in this space… they talk about total media and one more thing—retail media. And why? Because we can’t blame brands to ask these questions because institutionally they are set up to work with their partners, retail partners, in the same way. Which means total media on one side and shopper marketing on the side.” — Prateek Gupta
“I do think that some agencies still see retail media as a bolt-on… but those that are facing into it, like Omnicom, and placing people in teams that have that specialism… are who we see moving the dial.” — Uche Ofili
4. Cross-Team Disconnects Create Missed Opportunities
Retail media can fall through the cracks when brand, trade, shopper, and digital teams operate in silos—sometimes without even knowing what the other is doing.
“I’ve seen that in a good few countries now where… the in-store team is doing one set of activations and the online team is doing a different set of activations. And that’s cool, it works for them, and I would not criticize them on it, but they’re sort of like… missing the opportunity.” — Colin Lewis
Uche points to success stories where CMOs, agencies, and retail teams aligned early in the process:
“Where we saw real success is when we get the CMO involved, you get the agency involved, and we’re all sitting around the same table… Previously, we might have had challenges, i.e. in terms of inventory management even… So those conversations are quite interesting and nuanced to manage.” — Uche Ofili
5. Strategic Partnership and Capability Building Are Essential
Agencies need to embed retail media capability within their organizations—across strategy, measurement, creative, and planning—and treat RMNs as strategic partners, not just inventory providers.
“I’d say maybe invest in capability. So build a partner for dedicated retail media expertise now—not just in trading, but in strategy, measurement, and creative to avoid being left behind.” — Uche Ofili
“Go to your retail media networks, providers, and your agencies with your actual business problem, and see them as a strategic source of solutions… Stop treating your retail partners as simple suppliers of inventory.” — Prateek Gupta
Retail media is no longer a fringe tactic. It’s central to modern marketing, and agencies that adapt now—by educating their teams, embedding new capabilities, and building stronger retail partnerships—will shape the next chapter of commerce-driven brand growth.
Want to hear the full conversation?
Listen to the episode on Retail MediaX from Internet Retailing.