Retail Media Age becomes official with London launch event
By Tyrone Stewart, Editor at Retail Media Age and Content Strategy Lead at Bluestripe Group
Our Retail Media Age publication had its official launch, as part of our annual Foresight event, in London’s Soho last week (10 September 2025).
The return of the tube strikes. Pouring rain. A partner holding a similar event more than five miles away that only finished 30 minutes before ours was due to start. A week full of other retail and commerce media-related events.
The odds were overwhelmingly stacked against the launch event. But when have we ever let that stop us from delivering? “Just another day at the office” – to quote one of my favourite Chasers (he’s in my top six anyway).
A lineup for the ages
Taking place on the back of New Digital Age’s Foresight conference, the “Welcome to the (new) Retail Media Age” event – in partnership with Trainline and MiQ – featured two hours of insights from a stellar lineup of experts.
The event kicked off with me, as Editor of the title, introducing the thinking behind the launch of Retail Media Age (with a sprinkling of some questionable jokes).
RMA’s Associate Publisher, Ellie Edwards-Scott, then took to the stage to host a panel about “The Retail Media Revolution.” She was joined by Deborah Rosenthal-Davies, Head of Solutions, UK, MiQ; Nadine Warren, Advanced Advertising Manager, ITV; and Lauren Wakefield, Marketing & Communications Director, IAB Europe on an all-woman panel (would that be a wanel or a fanel? Answers appreciated).
They discussed the reasons behind the rapid growth of retail media in recent years, and delved into the opportunities that brands are currently failing to capitalise on, exploring how retail media fits into a broader advertising strategy and what the future holds for retail media. They also spoke about everybody’s favourite advertising-related topic: measurement.
I then returned to moderate a discussion between Sam Eads, Head of Ad Sales and Operations, Trainline; Henry Stokes, Senior Director, PayPal Ads UK; Angelique Miller, Vice President, E Studio, Expedia Group Advertising; and Liam Russell, Ecommerce Director, EMEA at Kinesso.
We spoke about why the retail media model is no longer just limited to retailers, how that functions outside of the “traditional” retail setup, and why brands should be exploring a multi-vertical approach. As well as the mentions of measurement and AI, one of the big themes of the discussion was collaboration, and how that will fuel the success of retail and commerce media networks.
The event closed with a fireside chat between myself and Alejandra Robledo, Global Director of Strategy and Finance – Ads, Wolt.
Alejandra gave us a glimpse into how Wolt operates under the DoorDash umbrella, sharing how the business works with local merchants across its markets to deliver the best possible ad experience for both those merchants and their customers. We also discussed why retail/commerce media has become such a big part of Wolt’s business, and spoke about some of the numbers behind the success of Wolt’s ads function.
A launch triumph
The event was a tremendous success, despite the various challenges facing us. And every single speaker provided incredible insights for the audience (and us) to take away.
I’m proud that I was able to not just bring together a stellar lineup of names to share their knowledge, but also ensure that women were properly represented within this lineup.
It’s just another example of the incredible events this team is able to pull off. Our focus on smaller scale, intimate, invite-only functions means only the right people are in the room and there are plenty of opportunities to network and engage with the attendees and speakers.
The quality of the content is one thing, but we pride ourselves on also ensuring the quality of the audience in the room.
Interested in exploring how we can create a similar event for you? Contact partnerships@bluestripegroup.co.uk