Marketing

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Eugene Yukin, vice president of products at MessageGears, the data activation and engagement platform that helps enterprises harness their data by streamlining the tech stack. Listen in as Yukin discusses his career experience in retail and product (1:10), the MessageGears platform (2:30), and…

Many convenience store operators walk into a strategy session with a promo calendar and call it a loyalty plan. A coffee BOGO this week. Two-for-one taquitos the next. A "we miss you" blast to anyone who hasn't scanned in a while. I've seen it a hundred times. That's not loyalty. That's a coupon schedule with…

Across most organizations, there's a conversation happening amongst marketing leadership that isn't being talked about enough. It goes something like this: "We invested in artificial intelligence. We ran the pilots. We saw productivity gains. So why does our AI bill keep going up?" As AI adoption matures, a new challenge is emerging that few organizations…

Companies selling into retail are quickly learning that artificial intelligence discovery is not just another version of search. Retail business buyers are no longer simply scanning a list of links. Increasingly, they're asking AI tools to compare options, summarize categories, explain tradeoffs, and recommend what to consider next. This shift is already visible in buyer…

With 2027 budget planning cycles already underway, retail marketing leaders aren't short on ambition or strategy. Tighter budgets, leaner teams, and the growing complexity of managing campaigns across digital and physical channels are making it harder than ever to turn strong plans into consistent results. Countless retailers are quietly rethinking their agency relationships. Levi's made…

Retail media has had a strong run. By placing ads inside their owned digital properties, including search results, product pages, and checkout flows, retailers built high-margin ad businesses on top of their existing infrastructure. The model works because the shopper is already on their site, engaged and, theoretically, ready to buy. But what about the…

In episode 512, Total Retail Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Allison Cullman, senior vice president of marketing at Hint, one of the largest unsweetened flavored water brands in the U.S. Listen in as Cullman discusses Hint's refreshed brand positioning and its new “MMMMM Water™” marketing campaign that leans into emotional branding, cultural relevance and desire (1:00).…

Live commerce is offering yet another channel for brands to connect with consumers, blending authenticity and technology. QVC Group has unique insights into this burgeoning channel and why now is the time for brands to invest resources into live shopping, according to senior vice president and new business development officer Brian Beitler, who spoke with…

Back-to-school used to be a relatively straightforward shopping season. Families bought supplies, sneakers, backpacks, maybe a few new outfits, and moved on. Today, it has become one of the most competitive periods on the retail calendar, stretching across classroom essentials, sports equipment, apparel, electronics, dorm products, food and beverage, and everyday household purchases all at…

More than half of consumers (58 percent) have replaced traditional search engines with generative artificial intelligence tools for product recommendations. That figure was 25 percent just two years earlier. Your next storefront visitor may not be a person at all. It may be a large language model (LLM) deciding whether to recommend your products. Most…