Media in Retail (MiR), an executive network created by RETHINK Retail, is expanding its membership to include senior leaders from brands and agencies, a move designed to bring more stakeholders into discussions around the operational and measurement challenges facing retail media.
The network announced founding cohorts from major consumer brands and global agency groups, broadening MiR beyond retail media networks and technology providers. The expansion comes as advertisers distribute budgets across a growing number of retail media networks, making measurement, data interoperability and organizational structure more difficult to manage.
The founding brand cohort includes executives from Danone, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Mars and Righteous Felon. The agency cohort includes senior commerce and retail media executives from Omnicom, Publicis Commerce, dentsu, Flywheel, WPP Media, Axiom, Goodway Group and SMG.
The development reflects a structural change in retail media. What began largely as an extension of retailer-owned advertising inventory is becoming a broader commerce media ecosystem involving brands, agencies, retailers, marketplaces and technology companies. As more parties influence planning, buying and measurement, coordination has become an industry problem rather than an individual network issue.
That problem is becoming more significant as retail media expands beyond sponsored product listings and onsite display. Connected TV, off-site programmatic advertising, in-store media, digital out-of-home and other channels are increasingly being incorporated into commerce strategies. Buyers therefore need measurement frameworks that can compare performance across environments with very different data and inventory characteristics.
MiR has also added Vantage, a retail media network operating-system provider, as a founding sponsor. Drew Cashmore, Vantage’s chief strategy officer and chair of MiR, will continue to lead the network.
The involvement of a technology provider adds another layer to the group’s composition. Retail media technology companies increasingly sit between retailers and advertisers, supplying infrastructure for inventory management, audience activation, measurement and monetization. Bringing those providers into the same executive forum as brands and agencies could make technology interoperability a more prominent part of the discussion.
The timing is significant. Retail media is entering a phase in which scale alone is becoming less useful as a differentiator. Advertisers increasingly have to decide not only where to spend but how to compare outcomes across networks. Agencies, meanwhile, are developing commerce practices that span multiple retailers and marketplaces rather than treating each network as a separate buying destination.
MiR plans to hold its inaugural Media in Retail Summit on Commerce Media during NRF 2027: Retail’s Big Show in January 2027. Discussions are expected to focus on physical-store media, digital commerce, omnichannel shopper engagement, cross-channel measurement and data transparency.
Market Landscape
Retail media remains one of the fastest-expanding segments of digital advertising, but its growth has produced a fragmented market. Each major retailer can operate its own audience definitions, reporting environment, inventory and measurement methodology.
The result is a growing need for common standards and cross-network measurement. The challenge is particularly important as retail media moves from retailer websites into off-site channels and physical stores.
Strategic Outlook
MiR’s expanded membership points toward a more ecosystem-oriented phase of retail media development. Retailers control valuable first-party commerce signals, brands control advertising budgets, agencies coordinate media strategy, and technology providers increasingly connect the infrastructure.
The next competitive phase will depend on how effectively those stakeholders solve measurement, transparency and data portability. Executive communities such as MiR can facilitate those conversations, but meaningful progress will ultimately require standards, interoperable technology and commercially viable measurement models.
Top Insights
- Retail media is becoming a multi-stakeholder ecosystem: Brands, agencies, retailers and technology providers increasingly influence the same media workflows.
- Measurement remains a central challenge: Fragmented network reporting makes cross-channel performance comparisons difficult.
- Agency participation is becoming more important: Brands increasingly rely on agencies to coordinate spending across numerous retail media platforms.
- Physical and digital channels are converging: In-store media is becoming part of broader omnichannel commerce strategies.
- Technology interoperability will matter more: Retail media infrastructure must increasingly connect audiences, inventory, activation and measurement.
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