Patrick McLean

Why is it that small to mid sized agencies who work with massive companies are squeezed into N60 or N90 terms? Our vendors want N30, but our clients pay us N90. See the dilemma? Agencies are not banks.

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It’s the most wonderfully expensive time of the year. Holiday spending in 2025 is telling us something loud and clear: shoppers are stretching dollars, not stockings. 🎄 I had the pleasure of speaking with Sandra Fiedler Viktorova at WGCU/NPR about two of my favorite topics — retail trends and consumer sentiment. 🛍️ Value-seeking behavior is no longer just a bargain-hunter thing. Middle income households, Millennials, and Gen Z are tightening budgets too. Yes, total spending is projected to rise thanks to Boomers and high-net-worth consumers, but actual volume? Down. 📉 A recent consumer survey by Shopkick by Trax revealed some staggering insights: • 83% of shoppers expected and noticed higher prices across popular gift categories • 54% are changing holiday shopping plans due to price increases • 35% plan to buy fewer gifts • 90% plan to shop on Amazon • 84% will head to big-box stores like Walmart or Target The message is clear: value beats volume, and consumers are cautious. 🧐 Curious what else we uncovered in what could be a $1 trillion-plus holiday season? Check it out below and let me know what you think! 👇 cc: Trax Retail #retail #consumerinsights #spendingtrends #holidayspending #retailtechnology #shopperengagement

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FYI: Walmart’s retail media business continues to grow at a higher rate than the retail media market at large, outpacing the retailer’s sales growth (Marketing Dive): Chris Kelly, Senior Reporter. Retail media is forecast to grow about 20% in 2025, according to eMarketer, as advertisers increasingly rely on the channel to tap into retailers’ store of first-party data and reach consumers closer to the point of sale. Walmart Connect continues to grow at a higher rate than the retail media market […] #DOOH #retailmedianetworks #digitalsignage

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I’ve always believed loyalty programs were an untapped resource in retail media. But Albertsons just showed us that they are getting...tapped into. By turning “for U Travel” into a data-powered rewards engine, they’ve built something rare - a loyalty flywheel that funds itself. Every point earned becomes a data signal. Every signal fuels media value. Every media dollar powers new rewards. It's a real mindset shift. Loyalty isn’t a cost center anymore; it’s a growth engine. What’s even more interesting is how Albertsons is using that data. When a family books a trip through “for U Travel,” it’s not just a travel purchase - it’s a behavioral trigger. It signals intent, timing, and context - opening precision opportunities for categories like credit cards, insurance, or travel upgrades at the exact life moment that matters. That’s the real future of retail media: understanding why customers act, not just what they buy. If loyalty becomes the power grid for this new media economy… the brands that master these flywheels will own the customer relationship - end to end. Curious how others are thinking about this evolution. Is loyalty the next frontier of retail data, or the ultimate convergence of media and customer experience? #RetailMedia #LoyaltyMarketing #CommerceMedia #AdTech #AIinmarketing

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Retail media isn’t new. For decades, retailers have leveraged co-op dollars and vendor participation to offset costs or monetize retail-based activations. What is new is the acceleration of digital deployment inside and outside the store. With the increased saturation of storefront signage, in-aisle displays, smart fixtures, and point-of-influence touchpoints, retailers suddenly have something they’ve never had at scale: abundant, high-value inventory in the physical world. And unlike the static retail environments of the past, today’s stores are fluid. Pop-up formats, fast fashion cycles, short-term activations, rapid resets, seasonal transitions, and constantly shifting planograms have made retail spaces far more dynamic. This is a relatively new phenomenon, and it is driving an increasing need for digital solutions that can adapt, update, and reconfigure as quickly as the physical environment around them. The interest is real. The budgets are shifting. And the opportunity is massive. But here’s the truth most overlook: Retail media will not be won by generic hardware or one-size-fits-all digital screens. Every retail environment is unique. Every category behaves differently. Every shopper journey is distinct. In my experience, the retailers and partners seeing the biggest lift are those willing to design, engineer, and deploy tailored solutions that integrate seamlessly into their physical environments. Form factor matters. Placement matters. Flexibility matters. This is where we’ve chosen to focus our energy. By leveraging our patented and proprietary platforms, and by co-developing purpose-built solutions with our network of elite AV integrators and channel partners, we see a blue-ocean opportunity emerging. Not incremental improvement; a step-change in how brands influence shoppers at the exact moment of decision. Those who partner with us differentiate themselves and win. Those who rely on commodity hardware blend in with everyone else. Retail media is not just another trend. It is a fundamental shift in how value is created inside the store. And the companies that embrace customization, engineering rigor, and strategic placement will define this next chapter. More to come.

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