The pace of change in our industry demands that we challenge our familiar ideas, look out for our biases and continuously question our assumptions to build our career in Retail Media.
I assume that you – like me – think that you are logical, reasonable, and objective.
I used to think that being logical and objective meant having all the answers, but in retail media the truth really is that we are both wrong – and that this is one of the biggest challenges in developing our Retail Media career.
We’re all bad at being objective.
We prefer to solve problems by asking: which ideas do I already have, and know well, and how can I apply them to the situation at hand?
The author of Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, called this tendency the “availability heuristic.”
Stop using the “availability heuristic”
Applying the “availability heuristic” to your retail media career is not exactly the right strategy as so much of it is so new – it’s a brand-new industry and we are laying the tracks down in front of us as we go along.
Kiri Masters quoted Ash McMullen, Head of E-commerce at Advantice Health, in a recent blog post as saying: “Tomorrow has never happened before.”
However, many of us are not acting like this – and apply the availability heuristic all the time.
I was reminded of this recently by something that happened in one of the retail media workshops that I regularly deliver to FMCG brands around the world.
In fact, it’s something that has happened within the first five minutes of every class I have given since I started teaching marketing, digital marketing, and eCommerce as my ‘side-hustle’ while working in a full-time CMO role.
It goes like this: I start talking about a particular topic, and to spark engagement, I always ask for questions. Without fail, every time, someone raises their hand and starts their next sentence with “I think that…” or “I never do that…” (whatever it is I just mentioned that shoppers do!).
They then proceed to give me an opinion about the topic, falling into the same trap every time—their opinion mirrors their shopper’s mindset, and they assume that perspective is applicable to all situations all of the time.
What’s worse, you also have to account for the self-serving bias of everybody else; most people won’t remove their biases successfully, given the human condition. If you don’t correct for the inevitable bias in your thinking, you will mistakenly believe that your mindset reflects everybody else’s.
When you hear ‘I think that…’ or ‘I never do that…’ coming from your mouth, it signals that you have the wrong frame of reference. A former boss of mine used to say when I was spouting fact-free opinions, ‘You think, or you know?’
The Retail Media Career Lesson: your opinion is irrelevant – aim to be as objective as possible all the time.
Think about your thinking
The problem is that our experiences often embed deep-seated assumptions in our minds that need to be questioned from the start.
I am reminded of this by a recent talking point in digital advertising circles about “a useful rule of thumb: the closer an ad is to purchase, the less likely its sales are incremental.”
A related point was made that “$202bn is wasted on digital advertising that does not work—money spent on ads that do nothing because you would have gotten the sale anyway”.
Andrew Lipsman recently wrote, “How has our industry gotten to the point where a statement like this can be made with a straight face? Have we lost all sense of how marketing works?”
The challenge is, as Daniel Kahneman points out, “the confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence but of the coherence of the story that the mind has managed to construct.”
Any sane person working in marketing – as Andrew Lipsman points out – that the reality of any advertising is that its incrementality depends on the quality of the strategy, creative, context, and data supporting the campaigns and not the distance from purchase.
So, why is the talking point stated at the top gaining popularity right now?
Because the rise of retail media is encroaching on other large digital ad platforms’ businesses, according to Andrew.
The Retail Media Career Lesson: Understanding incentives is essential because they uncover the underlying motivations that drive behaviour. As Charlie Munger said, “Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” In the case of Retail Media, watch out for the pushback from people who A. don’t understand it or B. will see Retail Media as encroaching on their territory.
Become T-shaped
A T-shaped retail media person is somebody who has expertise in about 1-3 core retail media skills. For example, you may be great at sponsored products and have a proven track record of delivering campaigns that convert. Or you may work in Retail Media sales and can really deliver packages that work for advertisers.
But what if you were also savvy in other facets of retail media, like how to create a full-funnel strategy for clients using different types of retail media ad units, or who could run Ad operations or was who really understood the role of content on PDPs. You would not have to be a domain expert on these topic – just be savvy about them so that you become a T-shaped Retail Media person.
The horizontal part of the “T” is the broad knowledge about retail media. It’s everything that you are familiar with—but not necessarily absolute expert in.
The vertical part of the “T” shows the depth of expertise and knowledge on one subject the thing you are you are an absolute expert on.
This means that you can, if you work in a Retail Media Network, you can look at a Retail Media brief that comes in from a client and understand every part of it, even if you are just doing Sponsored Products.
And that’s what makes them so valuable.
The Retail Media Career Lesson: T-shaped professionals in retail media combine broad, interdisciplinary knowledge with deep expertise in a specific area, enabling them to adapt quickly and drive innovation in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Flexibility Is the foundation
When we try to make sense of our day-to-day tasks—and our Retail Media careers—in the face of constant change and innovation that are perhaps more transformative than anything we’ve seen before, how we think about the capabilities these technologies bring is key to our future. Clinging to past ideas and opinions certainly won’t help.
When I look back at the start of my own marketing career, I see a common trend: I grew my capabilities and adapted to the needs of the job by changing my mindset, not by carrying old ideas into the future.
Lots of people working in marketing and advertising feel threatened by AI. You can see this in how they react to it, by accusing the latest announcement about AI driven advertising as “soulless” and “not creative” etc. Reality is that 99% of all advertising not particularly “full of soul” or “creative” – it’s there to get a sale. Yes, we can all agree that better creativity will drive better results, but that’s for another day!
We have to think about what we do ourselves.
Changing your inner narrative about what we see around in this way has a remarkable ability to move you forward. Instead of seeing things purely through your own ‘lens’ – ask yourself what assumptions am I making that is making me have a particular reaction.
The Retail Media Career Lesson: Success comes from questioning assumptions and continuously reshaping your perspective. Embrace an evidence-based approach. Avoid falling in love with your own ideas – or the past.
Change your mindset to change your career
Mindset is the starting point for any change and the only way to embed the Retail Media career lessons. Unlike improving technical skills, knowledge, or habits, shifting your mindset can happen almost overnight.
So, how do you make a mindset shift?
My first rule of thumb is that people in Retail Media career must seek out genuine answers and the right teachers and experts to work on their craft. Dig deep for real answers from true experts instead of settling for recycled ideas. Success comes to those who think deeply about a topic, not easy answers through LinkedIn clickbait headlines.
My second rule of thumb is to cultivate a natural curiosity about yourself, the world, your brands, and even multiple industries. Create a full kit of tools and ideas from diverse industries.
My third rule of thumb is to continuously challenge your assumptions. Be willing to change for something better and avoid falling in love with your own ideas. Charles Darwin paid special attention to evidence when it contradicted something he believed and loved.
A call to action
Reflect on these rules and ask yourself: what changes can you make today to cultivate a more open, adaptive mindset? What can you apply to advance your retail media career?
For more on retail media check out our Retail Media: Onsite 2025 report.
The new report takes a look at what onsite retail media is, the models underpinning its operation, the measures of success and steps to create an onsite retail media strategy, drawing on extensive sector research and analysis.
Retail media will also be discussed in person this May as Retail MediaX uncovers the opportunities for scaling RMNs, powered by retailers, brands and agencies across three compelling content tracks.
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