Unpacking the Digital Shelf

The number one question on the minds of any commerce executive is how should I organize my teams and processes to drive the right results in the right time? The actual answer  is always, it depends. But  there are clear guideposts and  a maturity curve  to consider along the way. This episode features two people on this topic: Christina Vail, Director of Client Strategy at Profitero, who has just published a new research report on  the topic entitled Building a High-Performance CPG eCommerce Organization. She joins Peter along with guest co-host, Lauren Livak, who ran North American Digital shelf strategy at Johnson and  Johnson and is now a Commerce Strategist for Salsify.

Having the right images on the digital shelf wins search and drives conversion on the product page. Optimizing images for performance, at scale, is no longer an art, but now a science at the fingertips of digital marketers. Jehan Hamedi, founder and CEO of Visual Brand Performance platform provider Vizit, joined Peter and Rob to explain how brands are perfecting what your consumer sees.

It seems like every week another retailer is announcing their new retail ad platform, and its both a challenge and opportunity for brands to reach their consumers in a more targeted and trustworthy way. Walgreens is bringing 100 million consumers to the fore with new tech and nimble ways, and Luke Kigel, VP, Walgreens Media & Head of Walgreens Advertising Group, joined Rob and me to talk about it and the rapidly evolving retail media landscape.

Every brand leader dreams of that truly authentic viral social media moment that will juice sales and transform the brand for a new audience. Turns out, if it happens, managing that fleeting moment is a tricky exercise, for which there are no rule books. Trace Rutland, Digital Hub Director at Ocean Spray Cranberries, was the leader in the hot seat when Nathan Apodaca, DoggFace208 on Linkedin, showed up on TikTok with a longboard, some Dreams, and a 64 ounce bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry. The rest of the story is now marketing legend, and we’ve got Trace here to talk about it.

Join James Seidl, VP of digital commerce at McCormick, to learn how he built a powerful ecommerce organization while leading the transformation of its direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy. Explore McCormick's wins and lessons learned on this D2C journey, as well as Seidl’s actionable insights on how to build and execute a winning D2C strategy.

Online grocery will more than double to 21.5% of total U.S. grocery sales by 2025. A major outlet for that growth will likely be Instacart, and brand leaders need to fully understand the challenges, opportunities, and likely evolution of this platform to maximize revenue and minimize risk. Kiri Masters, founder of digital marketing agency Bobsled Marketing, is the co-author of a new book, Instacart for CMOs. Join host Peter Crosby of the Digital Shelf Institute for an interview with Kiri as she presents the key takeaways from her research.

With the onslaught of niche brands, the movement from mass market to the market of masses, and the impact of digital on omnichannel commerce, what it means to be a brand today is rapidly changing. Andrea Leigh, VP of Strategy at Ideoclick, joined Peter and Rob to discuss how brand leaders need to re-examine how brands are built and grown for the digital-first omnichannel shelf.

There’s a lot at stake when B2B industrial buyers shop for safety products. The data’s got to be right and these days, it’s got to be digital. Sean Donovan, Digital Channel Manager for the Americas at MSA- the Safety Company, sat down with Peter and B2B Whisperer Justin King to discuss his strategy for making sure every channel partner has the data they need to build the trust needed to buy.

From the hallowed halls of Ogilvy, where branding was born, comes a new set of thinking around how brand can and must be infused into every stage of the consumer commerce journey. Edward Kim, Managing Partner of the Commerce practice at Ogilvy and Dan Saltzman, their VICE PRESIDENT, DESIGN + USER EXPERIENCE joined Rob and Peter to discuss how teams of misfits at global manufacturers are coming together to reinvigorate the role of brand in commerce.

Peter V.S. Bond, well-known as the co-host of the CPG Guys podcast, has a day job as VP Strategy & Retail Partnerships at PowerReviews. He put on that hat to share the results of a brand new survey of 4,000 consumers on the evolution of their omnichannel grocery shopping behaviors. Great data, with some powerful takeaways for brands.