Speakers - Retail Gazette Events

2025 Retail Media Summit Speakers

The 2025 Retail Media Summit was defined by its extraordinary lineup of speakers – the industry leaders, innovators, and trailblazers who took to the stage to share their expertise and bold ideas.

Across every session, they delivered fresh perspectives, practical strategies, and future-focused insights that inspired delegates and sparked powerful conversations.

We’re proud to have welcomed such an exceptional group of voices shaping the future of retail media – and we thank them for making the Summit an unforgettable success.

Adam Smith is the Head of Retail Media at Iceland Foods, where he leads the supermarket’s first in-house retail media team. Formerly a Category Trading Manager, Adam was promoted to spearhead Iceland’s strategic expansion into digital advertising and in-store media. Adam's role involves overseeing both physical and online advertising initiatives, ensuring that Iceland delivers a best-in-class service to its clients. His team is central to Iceland’s efforts to modernize its retail experience and compete with other major UK supermarkets in the rapidly growing retail media space

Adrienne Rowland is a results-driven retail media professional with experience across agency and client side. Currently at Wella Company as Senior Manager, Retail Media EMEA, she drives retail media strategies across key markets for a portfolio of 14 brands including Wella Professionals, O.P.I, and Clairol. Previously, Adrienne led global commerce strategies at Wavemaker (WPP), optimizing on-site and off-site retail media investments for CPG brands across Amazon and emerging retail media platforms.

Jessica Myers, chief customer officer at The Very Group: As chief customer officer, Jessica oversees marketing, creative, digital customer experience, and data and analytics. She joined Very in October 2022 as chief marketing officer and since then has spearheaded the group’s new brand platform ‘Let’s make it sparkle’, featuring brand characters, Kerry, Terry and Cherry, the flamboyant flamingos. Jessica joined Very from Metro Bank, where she built and led the company’s first ever brand and marketing function and was a member of the Executive Committee. Prior to Metro Bank, Jessica spent five years heading NatWest Group’s brand team with responsibility across its 10 portfolio brands, including RBS, NatWest, Royal Bank, Coutts and Ulster Bank.

Grace Bowden is a journalist, event host and editorial consultant with more than 10 years’ experience covering retail. Prior to her move into freelance she spent a decade on the Retail Week news desk culminating as head of content, where she spearheaded the publication’s news and features output. Whether she’s hosting panels, interviewing CEOs or writing reports Grace is passionate about getting past the buzzwords and digging into the issues that keep retail’s people up at night – from the part-time colleagues to the C-Suite. When she’s not writing or talking about retail, Grace can be found scouring Vinted or trying not to pass out in a hot yoga class.

Mandeep Khatkar is the Head of Insights in the JCDecaux's award winning Data Solutions team. His expertise lies in orchestrating research initiatives and translating them into actionable insights to showcase and improve the effectiveness of Out-of-Home (OOH), while fostering engagement. Mandeep's role has extended to spearheading the development and dissemination of JCDecaux's robust data and insight capabilities. His mission is to empower the JCDecaux commercial team with data-driven conversations that lead to unparalleled success in the industry. Prior to joining JCDecaux two years ago, Mandeep was a part of dunnhumby's Insights team, working with Tesco and CPG's across a wide range of categories.

Laura Williamson is a Client Director at Co-op Media Network, leading a team of almost 30 to plan, build and execute best-in-class retail media campaigns. Laura has been with Co-op Media Network since their launch, helping shape their unique proposition and leading on their ongoing strategy development. She has over a decade of experience across both FMCG and Health & Beauty categories, including an in-house role at Boots helping to monetise and launch their retail media offering. Laura has worked with some of the most well-known global brands such as Unilever, L'Oreal, Estée Lauder and Mars (to name a few!). She is passionate about building expert teams with a strong culture at their heart.

Ben leads the Walkbase business, an analytics and AI platform, for Stratacache, Inc. Walkbase specializes in helping retailers understand customer behavior in brick and mortar stores and translating this into actionable items such as RMN measurement and activation, more efficient merchandising and aligning labor with customer behavior. Ben is a proven marketing and technology executive with extensive Retail Media experience having held executive roles at Sara Lee, PRN (largest in-store media provider), Hooklogic (first sponsored ads outside of Amazon, now part of Criteo), and Maxpoint (digital marketer leveraging a proprietary identity graph now part of RR Donnelly) prior to joining Stratacache.

Peter Woodvine is the Head of Retail Media at JCDecaux, bringing over a decade of expertise in the field. His career in retail media began in 2007 at Publicis, working on the ASDA account, and has since encompassed a range of roles across all major grocery multiples. Peter's extensive experience and strategic insight have fostered strong collaborations with leading brands such as Tesco, Waitrose, Boots, and John Lewis, driving impactful media solutions that resonate with consumers and elevate brand presence.

Dave has worked in the tech and retail/ecommerce industry for 15 years, across big tech and start-ups. At Meta, Dave helped grow the leading brands like Huel, Alibaba, Lego, Very and Gymshark. At TikTok he led the retail and ecommerce lifestyle team, overseeing the growth of the likes of The Hut Group, SharkNinja, Wonderskin, P.Louise, Wild, Elf, The Essence Vault and hundreds more. Most recently, he released the book “Grow Like Tech”, which unearths the mindset and playbooks for developing like the most successful companies of all time. Dave now works as a consultant with various brands and partners to unlock growth across the digital channels.

Andrew has been with JCDecaux for nine years and is the creative solutions director of the company's award-winning creative solutions team. He leads a talented group of project managers in delivering bespoke outdoor advertising campaigns across JC Decaux's diverse portfolios, including retail, rail, roadside, and airport environments. Andrew has collaborated closely with Tesco and Dunnhumby, developing special builds on JCDecaux digital signage outside Tesco stores for exclusive point-of-sale campaigns, creating memorable and high-impact experiences for brands. Prior to his time at JCDecaux, Andrew spent eight years at ITV, where he managed digital campaigns for major sponsorships such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Sonal Kalra is a commercial leader with deep expertise across e-commerce, marketplaces, and travel-tech. At Trainline, she is spearheading the launch and scale-up of Trainline’s retail media proposition, leveraging its 27M monthly active users and rich first-party data to build a high-performing media ecosystem. With prior leadership roles at Amazon, Deliveroo and Tesco, Sonal brings a strategic, data-informed approach to building commercial propositions, partnerships and scalable media solutions.

Blair Cooper is an experienced Creative Director with 15 years in the retail design and brand experience sector. Her career spans roles as Concept Director, Design Director, and Creative Director across Melbourne, New York, and London. Blair combines thoughtful innovation with deep consumer insights, focusing on conceptualising spaces that leave a lasting impact with consumers. She has led a diverse range of creative projects—from her role as Nike North America Design Director for Brand Experience, where she led a multidisciplinary team to craft innovative brand narratives for iconic spaces like the NYC House of Innovation, to her position as Concept Director at Cotton On Group, where she oversaw retail design for seven brands across 19 countries and delivered over 150 store openings in six years. As the founder and Creative Director of Noise Noise Noise Studio in Melbourne, Blair specialised in immersive branded retail experiences, designing award-winning projects distinguished by their bold use of colour, material juxtaposition, strong architectural forms, and seamless integration of digital and physical elements. Blair was awarded an Australian Interior Design Excellence award in 2021 and has continued to pave the way in inspirational and influential retail experiences since. Alongside her extensive experience in concept development, spatial design, and brand storytelling, Blair is passionate about collaboration and mentorship within the design community and is committed to recognising work that challenges convention and redefines what is possible in design.

Leanne is a performance marketing expert with a proven track record in leadership, successfully scaling agency propositions and building high-performing in-house growth marketing teams. Having spent the last three years at Ocado Retail, evolving from Digital Marketing Lead to her current role as Commercial Lead in the Retail Media team, Leanne brings a unique blend of hands-on trading insight and commercial acumen. She is passionate about leveraging this expertise to deliver exceptional results for businesses.

Alex leads on Retail Media at Halfords where he is responsible for setting the overall strategy, expanding the proposition, and delivering increased revenue across the Retail Media division. Alex has helped launch, develop and scale Retail Media Networks across a number of different verticals and geographies. He has wide-ranging experience in the UK market, having worked with major grocery retailers such as Asda and Ocado, and has also delivered impactful projects internationally for businesses such as Aldi, Esprit, Spinneys, and Naivas.  He is passionate about building advertising businesses that create real value for customers, brands, and retailers alike through the intelligent use of data. Alex keeps a keen eye on emerging trends and innovations and is committed to unlocking Retail Media’s full potential and to pushing the boundaries of modern advertising.

Jay joined ITV 4 years ago to drive the rollout of Planet V, ITV’s own programmatic ad platform, and more recently, drive all aspects of digital revenue growth and NPD under AdLabs, ITV’s home of innovation. Notable recent innovations include Retail Match, ITV’s rapidly scaling commerce partnerships with Tesco Media and Boots Media Group; Auto Match, ITV’s new partnership with Carwow, and ITV Kerching, ITVs new affiliate commerce brand. Jay’s team are also pioneering efforts in shoppable having just-launched ‘Lead Gen Ads’, the TV industry’s first ever ad format to capture interest and qualified leads directly from a TV ad. Prior to ITV, Jay led Brand Solutions at Videology, after starting his career with an 18-year stint at MediaCom. Jay also sits on the leadership committee of Media For All. Now with more than 1000 members, MEFA helps drive recruitment, retention, and develop Black, Asian, and ethnic minority talent in the UK media industry.

Victoria Bruce (mostly known as VB), is an expert in the field of digital partnerships and retail media, currently serving as the Senior Agency Lead at Carwow. With a career spanning 15 years, she has developed a deep expertise in digital strategy, cultivated during her time at some of the UK's most prominent publishers, including Hearst, Reach PLC, and ESI Media. For the past five years, Victoria has been a pivotal force at Carwow, where she was instrumental in building and scaling the company's retail media proposition from the ground up. Today, she leads the strategic direction of Carwow's retail media network, including the selection and management of its key partners. Her extensive experience in digital partnerships and her forward-thinking approach make her a leading voice in the evolving retail media landscape.

Alexia Nakad is a globally recognised leader in ad tech and data-driven marketing, with over 18 years of experience driving strategic growth, international expansion, and transformative partnerships across EMEA, APAC, and LATAM. As Vice President of Brands for the UK and MEA at LiveRamp, she leads high-performing teams and delivers impactful, data-led solutions shaping the future of the media and advertising ecosystem. Throughout her career, Alexia has launched and scaled operations in over 30 markets, brokered large-scale deals with global brands including TikTok, Coca-Cola, Disney, and L’Oréal, and led regional turnarounds following major corporate acquisitions. Notably, she spearheaded a landmark five-year strategic partnership with a leading Middle Eastern conglomerate, solidifying LiveRamp’s footprint in the region’s rapidly evolving digital economy. Her expertise spans data commercialisation, omnichannel media measurement, go-to-market strategy, and operational restructuring. With a deep understanding of diverse cultural and business environments, Alexia excels at navigating complex, cross-market dynamics to build trusted, long-term partnerships on a global scale.

Paul Wright is the lead for advertising at Uber EMEA. He is responsible for all advertising from Uber's Journey Ads to sponsored messaging in Uber Eats.  Paul started his career at Sky, where he moved from TV sales into the commercial web. He later co-founded a sports focussed ad network and held a variety of digital roles at Bauer and AOL. He was appointed as the first Chief Digital Officer for OMD Group UK and then Omnicom Media Group UK. Paul then joined Apple's first ad business, iAd, and ran that across international markets. He has also been involved in a number of other Adtech businesses, including Sizmek, which was sold to Amazon in 2019. Paul is a passionate advocate for the power of digital advertising to connect brands with consumers. He is also a strong believer in diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Lucy Wilsdon has spent her career at the intersection of commerce, technology, and customer experience. Now a Strategic Account Director at Feedonomics, part of Commerce, she helps enterprise brands and retailers  unlock new growth opportunities through smarter data driving  digital transformation. Previously, Lucy held senior roles at Bazaarvoice, Sprinklr, and Monetate, giving her a unique perspective on how the world’s leading retailers and brands adapt to evolving consumer expectations. She is passionate about building long-term partnerships and empowering businesses to create more personalised, connected customer journeys.

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