Beyond The Shelf

Dave speaks with Brad Santanna, Head of Omnichannel Marketing, Strategic Customers, Insights & Analytics at The Hershey Company. Brad has been at The Hershey Company for his entire career - over 20 years! - a rarity in this day and age.Dave and Brad discuss the disconnect in KPIs between online and in-store (10:02), the importance of targeting occasions and not just audiences (13:07), an overview of the successful Shaq=A-Licious Gummies launch (16:42), what the Hershey team is looking at over the next 12-24 months (21:36), and how the shopper journey is no longer linear (25:35).Connect with Brad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-santanna-mba-4a32b411/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This week we're joined by Jo Callahan, Vice President, Strategy and Insights at Bazaarvoice.  Jo's previous experience incudes Citi, Pinterest and Unilever, where she was Director of U-Studio, Unilever's storied in-house creative agency.They discuss the creation of U-Studio (4:55), the definition of "fit for platform" (7:39), Bazaarvoice's evolution from a ratings and reviews organization to now offering many tools for creatives, influencers and marketers (13:19), creative best practices (20:35), and why the PDP should be considered a media asset (25:20).Connect with Jo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocolv/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave catches up with another luminary from The Partnering Group (TPG) - this time, it's Partner Matt Pierre.  Matt has over 30 years of experience in the CPG space, most of it spent at General Mills, where he built and grew the organization's US eCommerce operations.They discuss Matt's knack for predicting eCommerce trends before they happen (3:42), the challenges facing CPGs right now (7:39), an overview of his current role at TPG (11:28), why sales, marketing and ecomm need to constantly be working together (14:59), needing to understand the differences between the "spearfishing" and "full basket" eCommerce models (19:58), and the amazing work he does leading the Board of Directors for the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (28:46).Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-pierre/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker 

This week's guests are industry veterans Manish Sharma and Parag Shah, Co-Founders of Think Blue.  Their combined experience includes global leaders such as Kellogg, Wakefern Food Corp and The GIANT Company.They discuss why the customer should always be at the center of your lens (4:45), their belief in the concept of joint value creation (12:11),  the meaning behind the name Think Blue (12:51), why the term "Omnichannel" is misleading (23:40), and the 4 pillars of retail media (28:54),Follow Think Blue: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thinkbluesolutions/Connect with Manish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishsharm/Connect with Parag: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omnigrowthparag/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Coming off of another wildly successful Prime Day, Dave spends this episode with Jeff Cohen, Principal Evangelist at Amazon Ads.  Jeff has nearly 20 years in the eCommerce space, cutting his teeth with Texbooks.com and CampusBooks.com before launching his own initiative, Seller Labs.  At Amazon, he is tasked with developing a best-in-class developer community for Amazon advertising APIs.Jeff shares how his minors in Consumer Behavior and Sociology informed his professional marketing development (5:01), his experience in the eCommerce textbooks world (6:27), why it's important not to fear failure (17:08), what a day in the life at Amazon is like (22:19), and how Amazon has become much more than a conversion-focused platform (30:33).Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreycohen/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker 

Dave speaks with Aisha Khan from L'Oreal.  Aisha's previous experience includes J&J and Publicis Media.  They discuss why disappointing results are a "Who?" problem and not a "What?" problem (5:19), the continuing importance of off-site marketing (7:26), learnings from working at a big agency (12:04), how brands can keep up their momentum between now and the fall and holiday seasons (19:20), and their thoughts on creative testing (23:36).Connect with Aisha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ecommercequeen/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker 

Dave speaks with Wendy Jean Bennett, Vice President of Retail Commerce Leadership at Tyson Foods.  Wendy Jean's storied career at Tyson has also included stints as VP of Retail - Case Ready Division and VP of Sales - Consumer Products.Wendy shares insights on how she manages shifting roles within same organization (2:35), the 3 things she wants to be known for (8:50), the importance of utilizing your data for cross-team collaboration (15:19), strategies for bringing large teams together (21:06), and tactics for reaching consumers on their phones while they're in-store (25:01).Connect with Wendy Jean on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-jean-bennett-5113216/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker 

Today Dave is joined by Andrea Leigh, Founder & CEO of Allume Group.   Allume Group is an eCommerce knowledge hub helping professionals learn the information and skills they need to be successful online.  Andrea is a founding member of The Digital Shelf Institute and a co-host of the "Fresh Four" podcast from The CPG Guys.They discuss how Andrea got her start in the space (1:30), what it was like working at Amazon during its rapid expansion (2:57), an overview of Allume Group (10:58), why goal setting is so important (20:34), and predictions for the future when it comes to search and retail media (26:22).Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreakleigh/Learn more about Allume Group: https://allumegroup.com/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker 

We're back from a brief summer hiatus with Dan LeBlanc, CEO and Co-Founder at Daasity.  Daasity provides the experience and tools to help clients transform into data-driven organizations. Dan founded Daasity after an illustrious career with Capital One, ProFlowers and other brands and firms.They discuss how the flower industry taught Dan about LTV (6:11), why he decided to become an entrepreneur (10:10), the best parts about growing your own business (12:55), why D2C brands are realizing they need to be in retail (16:57), and where brands are spending most of their acquisition dollars these days (24:47).Learn more about Daasity: www.daasity.comConnect with Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddleblanc/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave sits down with Joe Gaudreau, Co-Founder and CEO of Lettuce Commerce.  Joe founded Lettuce Commerce last month, after nearly a decade at Salsify, where he was VP of Corporate Development.Dave and Joe discuss the secret to forecasting upcoming trends (4:45), Joe's journey at Salsify (9:58), an overview of "Value Engineering" (11:56), what Lettuce Commerce is trying to accomplish (22:26), and what Joe foresees over the next few years of PIM (28:16).Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joegaudreau/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker