Commerce media is becoming the connective tissue of modern marketing. SMG’s Uche Ofili brought together senior leaders from four major agency groups – Harriet Perry (Omnicom Media Group UK), David Fieldhouse (WPP), Steve Ricketts (Publicis Groupe), Matthew Higgins (Dentsu) – to unpack what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to happen next for commerce media to truly scale.
The Bottom Line
Agencies are bullish on commerce media’s potential, but they need better tech, better creative canvases, and better cross-retailer measurement to unlock it. As the ecosystem expands, winning brands will be the ones that organise for connection: across teams, across retailers, across the funnel, and across the full experience of media and commerce.
The Takeaways
Clients Are Getting Better But Maturity Still Varies Widely
The panel agreed: the industry is moving fast, but not all brands have the same readiness. Endemics tend to be ahead, while non-endemics often face structural barriers from retailers. Internal silos remain a major drag on progress.
“Some clients are set up for the future… others are still set up for the past.” — Steve Ricketts
Agencies are seeing growing appetite for commerce media from brand teams, not just shopper teams, but the shift requires organisational change, not just new budgets.
Retail Media Is Finally a Full-Funnel Channel Even if the Pipes Aren’t Perfect Yet
While older perceptions still linger, agencies say the conversation has moved beyond “retail media = conversion.” Brands now want to connect brand spend to sales, and retail signals help them do it. Harriet Perry noted that with today’s data, “you can really understand how your brand media is helping drive sales,” even when the spend is off-site or upper funnel.
But the infrastructure isn’t fully there. As David Fieldhouse put it, Amazon is the proof point, and retailers need to catch up on the tech, workflow, and measurement that allow brand and commerce to work together seamlessly.
Creativity Matters But the Canvas Is Still Too Small
Everyone agreed that creativity is a huge unlock… except when retail media formats don’t allow it. Sponsored product ads still dominate budgets — and they offer little creative room. Strict retailer guidelines also constrain new ideas, making it harder for brands to stand out.
“Placement outranks creativity today — because creativity doesn’t have the space to shine.” — Matt Higgins
Still, the panel pointed to signs of progress: new formats like onsite video, the rise of influencer-commerce, and integrated creative/commerce agency models that blend brand storytelling with retail precision.
Measurement Needs a Cross-Retail Breakthrough
If agencies could fix one thing tomorrow, it would be cross-retailer measurement. Consumers shop wherever value is strongest — but brands still struggle to understand behaviour beyond a single retailer.
“If I had a magic wand… it would be cross-retailer measurement locked in.” — Matt Higgins
Market-wide, privacy-safe collaboration remains the missing piece for true incrementality and attribution at scale.
The Future of Commerce Media Is Connected — or It Doesn’t Work
In a one-word lightning round, the panel summed up the next five years:
In-store (Harriet Perry)
Data — not powered by assumptions (David Fieldhouse)
Media — because the definition keeps expanding (Matt Higgins)
Connect or die — the most emphatic takeaway (Steve Ricketts)
Commerce media is a system. And agencies will play a defining role in stitching together retailers, brands, creative, data, and technology into something coherent.
Quote to Remember
“Commerce media is not just a channel — it’s the connected tissue that binds everything together across the customer journey.” — Uche Ofili
