Shownotes
Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Chris Walton sits down with Brian Monahan, SVP of Retail Media at Albertsons Media Collective, to explore how the retail media business has evolved since their last conversation and where AMC is headed next.
Brian breaks down Albertsons’ focus on “collective growth” beyond advertising revenue, including category growth and household penetration, while discussing how retail media increasingly connects merchandising, stores, digital and operations. He also shares his perspective on why new shopping experiences may be more important than traditional programmatic targeting and where the creator economy could intersect with retail media.
In this episode:
• How Albertsons Media Collective has evolved over the past year
• Why new shopping experiences may be underhyped in retail media
• Measuring retail media success beyond ad revenue
• Connecting merchandising, stores, digital and operations
• Where the creator economy and retail media could intersect
• What Albertsons Media Collective could look like in the years ahead
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Transcripts
Hello, everyone, this is Omnitalk Retail.
Speaker A: once again from Grocery Shop: Speaker A:And we are also recording this interview from the Fusion podcast studio, which is in booth 913.
Speaker A:Come on by.
Speaker A:Ben Miller and I will be here all week long interviewing fabulous retail executives.
Speaker A:Stop by, say hello, we'd love to see you.
Speaker A:And I am excited to introduce one of those retail executives to you right now, Brian Monahan, the SVP of Albertson's Retail Media Collective.
Speaker A:Brian, how are you doing?
Speaker A:How's Vegas?
Speaker B:So far, so good.
Speaker B:Excited to be here in this cool little fishbowl with you.
Speaker A:Yeah, right behind the glass.
Speaker B:Behind the glass.
Speaker A:Everybody's watching us.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's like our.
Speaker B:We're posted up in the, in the shark reef aquarium.
Speaker B:So now I kind of feel like the sharks as we're here getting people swimming around us.
Speaker A:Yeah, right, that's, that's funny.
Speaker A:That's always what the retailers like about coming and interviewing with us.
Speaker A:They get out of the kind of the sea of all the sharks chasing them and looking for their badges and everything.
Speaker A:So that's great.
Speaker A:When did you get in?
Speaker B:Last night.
Speaker A:Last night.
Speaker A:Yeah, me too.
Speaker A:Me too.
Speaker A:All right, so we interviewed you at FMI as well.
Speaker A:So that was like, what, nine months ago?
Speaker A:You've been in the job a little over a year.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker A:So I'm curious, what has changed in terms of how Albertsons Media Collective operates since we last spoke with you?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's fun to look back.
Speaker B:You know, you're kind of in the eye of the hurricane day in and day out, working with your team and it's nice to kind of pause and kind of reflect.
Speaker B:I mean, we've been busy building this full funnel couch to checkout demand driving platform.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Our mission at the collective is to present sponsored relevant sponsored content to simplify shopper missions.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And those missions start outside of our stores, continue into our digital environments, and then into the stores itself.
Speaker B:So we've been hard at work building out that platform with off site partnerships like what we've done with NBCU, what we've done with Google and YouTube.
Speaker B:We've obviously been working on the ad opportunities on our apps and whatnot.
Speaker B:And then a lot of work has gone into our in store leg of our platform with building out our smart screen network across the country.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So Brian, I'm curious, like one of the things I was doing when I was researching for this interview, one of the things I noticed is you've argued that programmatic and targeting media are overhyped, and then you've said that new shopping experiences are underhyped.
Speaker A:So I'm curious, what do you mean by that?
Speaker A:And what's an example of an underhyped shopping experience that Albertsons Media Collective can provide?
Speaker B:Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this.
Speaker B:I mean, retail media is the only media transaction where the objective of the buyer and the seller is the same.
Speaker B:So if at the end of the day we're just kind of like bidding on little square display ads, like what a missed opportunity.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So I guess I would point to one of the things that's underhyped about the relationship between our advertising partners and a retail media network like Albertsons Collective is the insights that we have about our shared customers.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So like understanding where growth opportunities exist, why people shop, and then how to speak to them in relevant, meaningful ways.
Speaker B:And if you pull on that thread, what it leads to is more expressive marketing.
Speaker B:Like the program we did with P and G, we launched it last summer, Rico's Tacos, this episodic micro drama, Right.
Speaker B:So sort of bringing the soap opera into the modern age, if you will.
Speaker B:But that started, Chris, that all that work started.
Speaker B:We didn't set out to do episodic microdramas.
Speaker B:We set out to understand where was the growth market, these young Hispanic families.
Speaker B:We set out to try to speak to them in a way that was relevant and authentic.
Speaker B:And we brought both, collectively our insights to the table.
Speaker B:So we could show things like authentic life moments.
Speaker B:Like one of the vignettes in one of the scripts, It's Taco Tuesday, they've run out of avocados, they got to run to the grocery store.
Speaker B:Well, guess what?
Speaker B:8% Of our trips are driven by people who have forgotten a key ingredient for that night's meal.
Speaker B:And then while in that vignette, while one of the characters, the Abuela, is in the store, she picks up some head and shoulder shampoo for herself, right?
Speaker B:So it's a meal, it's a food driven trip with a personal treat that gets added to the basket, which again is another one of our insights that helps us sort of present brands in context in an authentic way.
Speaker B:And I think that's a really under hyped asset that we have in retail media.
Speaker A:So Brian, I'm curious, like when you think about the collective and how you want to grow, and you said both parties are aligned in the ultimate mission, which makes sense.
Speaker A:But how do you actually, how do you Measure that in a way or think about measuring that in a way that gets at the root of you doing it.
Speaker A:Well, particularly for me, like I always wonder on the in store side because, you know, digital media on the digital side is a different beast in terms of, you know, how it's working, how the money's coming in and that whole thing.
Speaker A:So like, how do you think about that?
Speaker A:Because I think a lot of times like you could be growing your digital media business online very healthily, but it not be doing anything for your in store business as well.
Speaker A:So am I, am I thinking about that?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Or like is that dilemma there, that dichotomy there and how do you solve that?
Speaker B:Well, we definitely want to grow our relationships with our customers and build high value customers for life.
Speaker B:And you know, that's an omnichannel relationship in our view.
Speaker B:So we want to grow our in store sales and activity as well as online.
Speaker B:And listen, we think of relevant sponsored media as additive to that overall experience, whether it's online or in store.
Speaker B:And we do metric it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we do look at, whenever we're experimenting with a new ad placement on the site, we can look at whether we see any degradation of the shopper experience in terms of the metrics we're seeing.
Speaker B:And same thing with our new in store screen network.
Speaker B:So one of the things that we've got as part of that system is beacon technology so we can look at pathing, analysis, dwell time.
Speaker B:And we're looking at that to make sure that we're adding to the overall experience and not confusing the customer or getting them stuck anywhere.
Speaker A:So you're actually measuring whether there's a correlative response to the ads they're seeing and the actions that shoppers are taking in the store.
Speaker B:Oh, for sure.
Speaker B:We're absolutely looking at whether there's a lift on sales for what we've advertised, but also just trying to look at the overall customer experience as well because we don't want to pollute the experience with, you know, like non relevant ads.
Speaker A:Right, right, for sure.
Speaker A:Which is, which is always tough.
Speaker A:I mean, that's kind of the idea of the merchant too is the merchant's there to filter through that and provide the products that they, that they want versus just giving the shelf space to the vendors that, you know, want to buy it from them.
Speaker A:Which is the same rub in retail media at the end of the day.
Speaker A:So it's good to hear you guys are doing that.
Speaker A:How do you operationalize that with your partners though?
Speaker A:Like, tell me more about that, like what does that, what does that look like in communication, in day to day processes?
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, look, it's one thing to run around talking about like we're in it together, we're all about collective growth.
Speaker B:It's another thing to operationalize it.
Speaker B:So I love this question, Chris.
Speaker B:So for us it starts with organizational design.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we sit in the merchandising organization.
Speaker B:You do.
Speaker B:Okay, interesting about the metrics that we take and our KPIs.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So the collectives team is on the hook for lifting sales growth as much as we're on the hook for, for driving ad revenue.
Speaker B:And we work in tight collaboration with our merchants.
Speaker B:So when we approach our CPG partners and our supplier partners, there's one holistic conversation about how we can drive growth together.
Speaker B:So, you know, that's part of it.
Speaker B:On our side, in terms of working with our advertising partners, we've really embraced, I mean, yes, we're involved with all the industry initiatives to drive standardization of measurement so they feel confident in what they're getting from the investment.
Speaker B:We've also embraced radical transparency on our own.
Speaker B:So you know, we continue to publish white papers that really explore the swings and reporting that you see when you change methodologic methodology of different metrics.
Speaker B:We publish, you know, ROAS iroas new to category lifetime value.
Speaker B:So just radical transparency with our partners to show what we're doing together to get to that aligned interest.
Speaker A:Yeah, and I know I'm always paying close attention to you all in terms of what you're doing in this space because.
Speaker A:Cause it's a good one.
Speaker A:You're a good company to keep tabs on in terms of how you all are thinking about that.
Speaker A:I'm curious though, what do you think are further opportunities for better collaboration or coordination?
Speaker B:I think the area that we've got an opportunity for better collaboration is cpgs and advertising organizations have this legacy division between their national brand teams and their customer teams.
Speaker B:And I understand why they're set up that way.
Speaker B:But the reality is consumers go on a journey that cuts across all those marketing disciplines and all of this smart work that they do in their individual silos.
Speaker B:I think the opportunity we have to drive better collaboration is to take a very customer first lens and in fact start from the moment of transaction and build back out, solve for that customer journey and really put the measurement underneath it.
Speaker B:This is why we launched.
Speaker B:We're very proud of what we're doing on the measurement front.
Speaker B:Our team works really hard on that.
Speaker B:And last week we launched a New multi touch attribution method with Liveramp.
Speaker B:And what's cool about that, Chris, is it measures incremental sales.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So yes, it cuts across these walled gardens.
Speaker B:That's awesome and huge.
Speaker B:But also to be able to show incremental sales growth and the benefit of lining up all those touch points, the business benefit, that's going to drive more organizational alignment than any pontification about theory or strategy.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And Brian, I mean I don't want to oversimplify this because you're, you're the, but you're the expert.
Speaker A:So I want to ask you too, is that, is that a good way to sum up the methodology that you take at amc?
Speaker A:Like to look at, look at the transaction and then work backwards to understand the attribution?
Speaker A:Is that the right way to think about it?
Speaker A:That's like a, it's like a backwards up approach.
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker B:And I'm learning this as I grow as a marketer.
Speaker B:I mean, I grew up as a media planner.
Speaker A:I think we all are, honestly.
Speaker B:Yeah, we were all kind of like sort of trained to think like top down, like journey down from like the moment of inception through the transaction.
Speaker B:And I think if you actually start from where does growth really happen?
Speaker B:Then that's a sale.
Speaker B:So where do you expect that sale to come from?
Speaker B:Trace it back, make some bets.
Speaker B:Trace it back.
Speaker A:It's like a detective almost.
Speaker A:Yeah, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right, so I can't let you go without touching on the creator economy too, because the creator economy is coming fast and furious.
Speaker A:And with the creator economy going and retail media going the way it is, you have said that they are quote two runaway freight trains.
Speaker A:So what did you mean by that?
Speaker A:And where do you see those actually intersecting at Albertsons?
Speaker B:Well, I think, you know, retail media, like listen, retail media, we're on the right side of history.
Speaker B:The age old question of I know, you know, I know half of my advertising is wasted.
Speaker B:I don't know which half.
Speaker B:Like, you're welcome, John Wanamaker.
Speaker B:Like we solved it.
Speaker B:So, you know, retail media is on the right side of history.
Speaker B:Creators are too.
Speaker B:And I think even more so, Chris, I'm realizing every day and like this era of sort of AI, you know, large language model, these chat based discoverability of content and how you show up in these conversations.
Speaker B:So much of it has to do with your footprint out in the world of what your content is, which is the representation of your brand.
Speaker B:And creators have a lot to do with like how that footprint shows up in the world, how it gets made.
Speaker B:And so I think that part of our industry is only going to continue to become a more important way of how brands go to market for us.
Speaker B:Where they come together is working one making sure we have a really robust stable of creators who are trained on our customers and our banners.
Speaker B:So we have the Acme creators and the Safeway creators and the Juul creators so they understand our brands and our audiences.
Speaker B:They know food obviously.
Speaker B:Then we're also working with some great partners like influential in the publicist network so we can take our customer data, their epsilon IDs and understand who creators are reaching and then get a read on sales lift that comes out.
Speaker B:So bring some accountability to the, to the discipline of creator marketing.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:Okay, so.
Speaker A:All right, so last one, let you out of here after this.
Speaker A:But say we're back here three to five years from now.
Speaker A:How will Albertsons Media Collective be different than it is today?
Speaker A:If you have your say, your stamp, you leave your stamp.
Speaker B:I love this question.
Speaker B:And in five years from now, Chris, I don't.
Speaker B:I think the shopping experience is going to be very different than what we know it as today.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like particularly E Commerce, like E commerce is very much a reductive sort of like query grid like drill, drill, drill, drill, drill.
Speaker B:And what we're realizing with a lot of chat based discovery, that's a more expansive journey that people go on.
Speaker B:So I think we're going to learn a lot about how to program to those chats versus the drilling of the search.
Speaker B:So I think that's a big thing that's going to be very different for us.
Speaker B:I also think that we're just on the precipice of a massive change.
Speaker B:The same way programmatic advertising changed the way we did media buying before.
Speaker B:I think agentic media buying is going to change that as well.
Speaker B:And this whole ecosystem we've got of SSPs and DSPs and exchanges, like I think that is going to go away and might be replaced by some other.
Speaker A:Thing, but hopefully some other Alphabet soup, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, but hopefully less, less of a siphon off to non working media.
Speaker B:So I'm really excited to see how those trends shake out.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:Wow, that's some really great stuff to lean on there.
Speaker A:Brian, thank you so much.
Speaker A:Thank you for spending time with us.
Speaker A:Good luck at the show.
Speaker A:You're on stage later today as well, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:We're going to be talking about our In Store Screen network with Andrew Lipsman and some other great retailers.
Speaker B:And yeah, we're really excited.
Speaker B:I think it's a whole exciting new canvas and we're just on the, on the cutting edge of like figuring out how to use that canvas most effectively.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Brian, I'm curious, do you think when you said the thing about, you know, agentix shopping, changing the way the industry is going to work, being in grocery, do you think that that will over index and impact grocery more so than other verticals in retail?
Speaker A:Like how do you think about that?
Speaker B:Well, I will say I'm really happy to be at a grocer as we're going through this because I do think the way people shop for food lends itself to having a relationship with your grocer, getting into their loyalty program and not getting disintermediated by some answer engine.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But no, I do think that food is also going to be impacted by shopping.
Speaker B:And it's really interesting to look at some of the prompts that we're seeing in our agentic shopping and it's the, they're very open ended questions that give you more clues about like what's happening in that household's life and if read properly we can present more interesting solutions to them.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:I guess I lied because I asked you one more question, but it came to me at the end.
Speaker A:I was like, I gotta ask him this because that was a really great answer too.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Well, thanks so much.
Speaker A:Brian Monahan of Albertsons Media Collective.
Speaker A:Thanks for spending time with us today.
Speaker A: our coverage at grocery shop: Speaker A:And until next time, be careful out there.