Beyond The Shelf

This week, David speaks with Nicolai Soendergaard, Director of Omni Enablement at Newell Brands. Nicolai has had an illustrious career in the space, with previous stints at LEGO and Kellogg. They discuss Nicolai's decision to move to the US (3:19), his advice for smaller brands looking to emulate big brand strategy on Amazon (7:41), why the concept of the "endless aisle" is a myth (18:57), and how AI is already making people more productive and efficient in their day-to-day work (29:26).Connect with Nicolai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaiksoendergaard/Find out more about ItsRapid's new Sellsheet Builder! Send an email to support@itsrapid.ai with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

David's guest this week is Greg Stevens, CEO of Turbyne. Previously Greg was Executive Vice President at Advantage Solutions, where he led the creation, development and spinout of Turbyne. They discuss why having a proprietary tech stack in your agency/business is the best defense against your competitors (6:19), how in-store retail media needs to come from a place of strength (19:22), what Greg saw at NRF 2024 (19:51), and why sailing is a good metaphor for business (30:32).Learn more about Turbyne: https://www.turbyne.com/Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorystevens/Find out more about ItsRapid's new Sellsheet Builder! Send an email to support@itsrapid.ai with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

David catches up with David Novak, Chief Revenue Officer at Salsify and board member for numerous SaaS organizations. They discuss David's career journey from coding and engineering to sales (3:24), his experiences farming and how it relates to his professional work (10:39), and how brands can leverage AI in useful ways (24:47).Register for the 2024 Salsify Summit: https://www.digitalshelfsummit.com/event/63127807-e648-419c-9180-31ebe128f77e/summaryConnect with David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnovak/Find out more about ItsRapid's new Sellsheet Builder! Send an email to support@itsrapid.ai with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

David speaks with Paulo Bacarin, Customer Development Team Manager for Clubs at Colgate-Palmolive. Paulo has nearly 15 years of experience at Colgate-Palmolive, including stints in his native Brazil and in the US. David and Paulo cover the three takeaways from managing Amazon-specific eCommerce (6:30), Paulo's learnings from time spent in Brazil and Latin America (13:47), what the "right to play" means in the retail media space (27:08), and why Paulo's parents are the two people he's been inspired by the most (32:34).Beyond The Shelf is brought to you by itsrapid.ai, the leading Creative Management Platform for E-Commerce. Learn more at itsrapid.ai. David's past guests have included: Bryan Gildenberg from the CPG Guys, Anne Zybowski from Circana, Randy Mercer from 1WorldSync, Jared Taitel from PepsiCo, Harvey Ma from Albertsons Media Collective, Carter Jensen from General Mills, Pam Perino from Ghirardelli Chocolate and many more.

Happy New Year! This week Dave catches up with Harvey Ma, Vice President at Albertsons Media Collective. Harvey has 20 years of experience leading international teams across business in retail, manufacturing, engineering and telecommunications. They discuss how Harvey got his start in the industry (2:44), Albertsons Media Collective's growth during the last year (16:39), the third wave of Retail Media (28:05) and the two experiences that have inspired Harvey most in his career (30:25).Follow Albertsons Media Collective on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/albertsons-media-collective/Learn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

David's guest this week is Todd Hassenfelt, Global Digital Commerce Senior Director, Strategy and Execution at Colgate-Palmolive. Todd has worked with many of the world's leading brands including Hill's, Tom's, Irish Spring and many others. They discuss Todd's start in the space (2:00), how a global organization like Colgate-Palmolive collaborates across teams (7:42), best practices for using generative AI for images (14:41), takeaways from the Amazon Black Friday NFL game (28:24), and much more.Connect with Todd on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-hassenfelt/Learn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

David's guest for this episode is Josh Clarkson, Director of Digital at Russell Stover Chocolates, where he's building a brand-new digital team from scratch. Josh shares his learnings from various leadership roles over the years (3:56), the idea for and execution of the world's largest box of chocolate to celebrate Russell Stover's 100th anniversary (10:23), his differing approaches to seasonality (21:57) and the meaning behind the phrase "seamless commerce" (25:32).Enter Russell Stover's 100 Year Giveaway here: http://russellstover.com/100kConnect with Josh on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joshuaclarksonLearn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This week David's guest is Randy Mercer, Chief Product Officer at 1WorldSync, where he leads the Global Product Management and Solutions Architecture teams. They talk about Randy's beginnings in the space (1:51), how 1WorldSync utilizes AI to improve e-commerce performance (11:09), and the ever-increasing importance of mobile imagery to entice consumers on their path to purchase (23:42).Connect with Randy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randalmercer/Learn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Today's guest is Alex Crowe, Global Vice President of Omnichannel Strategy at Criteo. Criteo helps advertisers, retailers and publishers activate and monetize audiences everywhere shoppable moments happen. They discuss the cost pressures facing retail media on both the consumer and marketing sides (3:23), what Alex thinks the main purpose of retail media is and how Criteo stands out in terms of measuring retail media performance (11:16), and the importance of media having a view of all media touchpoints to better inform how to split up media budgets (17:03).Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-crowe-b71b5840Learn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Today David speaks with Carter Jensen, Senior Manager of Global Digital Strategy at General Mills. Carter has three areas of focus: Leading the acceleration of AI; heading up consumer-first digital strategy; and an international focus on digital learning and development. They discuss the differences between agency life vs working in-house for a big brand (4:41), Carter's experience at General Mills (6:57), how to balance an international team's needs when they're different than North America (22:54), and how transformative Carter thinks AI will be in the next five years (26:03).Connect with Carter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carterjensen/Learn more: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker