Retail-media investment with marketplaces and retailers had grown fast and chaotically: every market negotiated its own deals, fees and data access were opaque, and no one could compare the return on retail media against the rest of the media mix. Commerce and brand budgets pulled in different directions.
VA standardised retail-media agreements and fees, unified commerce and brand investment under one governance structure and codified data-access and measurement — so return on retail media became comparable to the rest of the mix and the same budget works harder.
Head of Media, Head of Marketing Procurement, Chief Digital Officer
The strategic problem
Retail-media investment with marketplaces and retailers had grown fast and chaotically: every market negotiated its own deals, fees and data access were opaque, and no one could compare the return on retail media against the rest of the media mix. Commerce and brand budgets pulled in different directions.
Diagnose & Design
VA conducted a spend mapping & cost baseline analysis of all retail-media investment across marketplaces and retailers, mapping fees, data-access terms and returns by platform and market; a gap & maturity assessment and market benchmarking defined how retail-media performance should be evaluated relative to the wider media mix, drawing on analytical segmentation to connect spend to cross-sell and sales outcomes; scenario modelling & forecast simulation then quantified how much working media the current budget could buy under a governed, transparent model, with AURA/FRC (Fulltime Ratecard Calculator) structuring the commercial analysis.
Ecosystem & Remuneration
VA standardised retail-media agreements and fee structures through remuneration model design and fee benchmarking & validation, establishing comparable terms across platforms and markets; partner ecosystem design unified commerce and brand investment under one governance structure; and scoping & SOW design codified data-access rights and measurement requirements, so return on retail media became comparable to the rest of the mix — with the AURA/Scoring Model governing any competitive platform selection.
Rollout & relationship management
Contracting & onboarding locked the standardised platform and partner terms; handover, rollout & commitment tracking then activated the unified governance market by market, with AURA/Planner back-planning the rollout to two budget-cycle dates and relationship management — supported by recurring 360 performance reviews on the AURA/Dashboard — ensuring that fee transparency and measurement commitments were embedded in every ongoing platform relationship through the full rollout.
Execution Oversight
VA applied production cost validation & budget control to verify platform fees and data charges against the agreed commercial framework; bid governance disciplined any significant platform renegotiation or competitive selection; wrap & final reconciliation confirmed working-media delivery and measured-outcome results at each budget-cycle close, building the comparable performance record that the new model requires.
Performance Measurement
Framed as maximisation, not saving: the same retail-media budget now buys 26% more working media and delivers 17% more measured outcome, because fees and data costs are transparent and spend is comparable across the full media mix [illustrative, to be confirmed]. KPIs and scorecards from governance design tracked via partner performance evaluation on a 90/180/360 appraisal cadence; cost saving and cost avoidance reported separately where applicable (today closure reports; full performance measurement on the roadmap).
Why VA
Retail media is the fastest-growing, least-governed line in the marketing mix. VA brings transparency, comparable measurement and recurring performance review — so commerce growth compounds on a foundation the CFO can defend and the CMO can optimise.
Common questions
What is a retail-media operating model?
Standardised agreements, transparent fees and codified data-access and measurement across platforms and markets, under one governance structure that unifies commerce and brand investment — rather than each market negotiating opaque deals in isolation.
Why frame retail media as maximisation rather than cost reduction?
Because the value is in making the same budget work harder: with fees and data costs transparent and returns comparable across the full mix, spend buys more working media and delivers more measured outcome — growth compounds on a defensible base.
How does retail media become comparable to the rest of the media mix?
By codifying data-access rights and a common measurement standard and reviewing performance on a 90/180/360 cadence — so the CFO can compare return on retail media against every other line and the CMO can optimise across them.