Welcome to a Tuesday edition of Unmade. Updates over the next fortnight will be less frequent than usual until the news cycle intensifies. Today though we have something to share.
Further down, you’ll also find an update on The Unmade Index, including developments at The Market Herald. But first, retail media…
Announcing Colin Lewis as RE:Made’s international keynote.
The curator of RE:Made Cat McGinn writes:
We are so excited to announce our first international keynote speaker for RE:Made, Colin Lewis.
Below, we also have news of an industry initiative which will be launched at the event. But we’ll start with Colin.
I’m conscious that as the first retail media event in Australia, we have a responsibility for RE:Made to help set the tone for the industry.
In the process of researching this event, we cast a wide net. That included creating an informal advisory panel.
You can see who they are on the RE:Made website.
And we also tapped into Unmade’s wider community. That was where the idea of inviting Colin originally came from. In this case the initial suggestion came via Twitter, from strategist Eaon Pritchard.
It was a good idea. Speaking to our advisory panel, it became clear that Colin, based in the UK, was the standout choice.
No marketer has developed a deeper expertise on retail media in particular.
Colin advises both brands and retailers in Europe on their retail media strategy. He’s spoken at some of the key international events, including at the keynote for the launch of the Tesco & Dunnhumby Media and Insights Platform (they held the Tesco Media Upfront recently), A few weeks after RE:Made, Colin will be presenting a retail media masterclass at the massive Festival of Marketing event in London.
Colin has spent time with the biggest players, including Walmart and Amazon amongst many others. He’s also created a series of Best Practice reports on retail media, including on Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing and Instacart, as well as a series of eCommerce best practice and Marketplaces best practice reports.
Not only does he have an international perspective, but he knows the Australian market too,. He’s worked as CMO for some of the UKs biggest brands over the last 25 years, as well as working in Australia, France, Ireland, Singapore and China.
Colin has also been a Marketing Week columnist since 2015 (they’re the people who also publish Mark Ritson’s weekly column), as well as being a columnist for WARC with a focus on retail media.
He works with clients such as Unilever, Philip Morris, Samsung, Superdrug, Superdrug, Kingfisher (B+Q, Screwfix), De Beers, TK Maxx, Bayer, Oracle, Europcar, Kerry Group, Facebook, SAP, BDO as well as tech start-ups.
I suggest you check out Colin’s LinkedIn profile to get a sense of the wealth of knowledge he has to offer. And then buy a ticket to have the opportunity to hear his full presentation at the event on Thursday March 2. The 20% earlybird discount expires in just over a fortnight. For now, tickets are priced at just $236.
Our intention in creating this event is to elevate and educate the sector, and to do this requires a conference lineup of experts with a commitment to a conversation that is strategic, meaningful, and has a degree of magnanimity at heart.
As several members of our advisory board have said during this process, “a rising tide lifts all boats’.
Colin’s keynote “Retail Media: How to Power Growth for Retailers and Brands” promises to do just that.
Our other big announcement today is that, in collaboration with Unmade, IAB Australia is launching a survey for brands and media agencies to assess the current state of the retail media industry in Australia.
The research will assess retail media usage, drivers and barriers as well as helping to identify the most pressing needs of marketers in relation to planning, buying and measuring retail media activity.
The findings of this important new research will be announced at the RE:Made conference. Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, will present the key local findings, as well as comparing results with data from other geographic markets.
I couldn’t be more pleased to be able to write our first speaker announcement with these two sessions; in terms of the calibre of speakers and content, and the collegiate approach we’re helping to foster within the retail media community of practice, I hope you’ll agree this sets a strong precedent.
Stay tuned for further news of our next stellar panellists to be announced this time next week. And in the meantime, please do grab your earlybird ticket before the deadline.
cat@unmade.media
Unmade Index - six in a row
Tim Burrowes writes:
The Unmade Index extended its upwards run to a sixth trading day in a row on Monday.
The index is now trading at 667.6 points, a rise of 1.56% yesterday.
Yesterday’s biggest rise came from real estate platform Domain, up by 4%, although its market cap is still languishing below $2bn.
And The Market Herald issues a couple of updates to the market yesterday.
Most notably, TMH has negotiated an extension on paying back Adevinta for its purchase of Gumtree, Carsguide and Autotrader. The March 31 deadline for paying the $61m has been extended to May 31.
The company did not disclose the interest rate it will have to pay, saying it was “on commercial terms”.
Yesterday TMH also disclosed detail of acting CEO Tommy Logtenberg’s contract. He will be paid $500,000 but can be dismissed with just three month’s notice. Logtenberg was given the battlefield promotion after the acrimonious exit of founder Jag Sanger late last year.
Last week, the company added the Canada-based Twila Jensen to its board after the departure of director Colin Chenu.
We’ll be back with more from Unmade later in the week.
letters@unmade.media