79 - Balancing Product Innovation, Test and Learn, and Agile Strategies in Retail Media: A Conversation with Jack Johnson of Ocado Retail

"We need to stop recycling past strategies. Too often, brands fall back on what worked before instead of innovating. We need a 'test and learn' mentality to drive real growth with retail media." Jack Johnson, Head of Ocado Ads

In this episode of Time For a Reset Marketing Podcast: Insights from Global Brand Marketers, brought to you by CvE Marketing Consultancy, host Paul Frampton connects with Jack Johnson, Head of Ocado Ads at Ocado Retail, UKs popular and preferred online grocer.

Jack highlights Ocado’s unique position as a leading online-only grocery retailer, emphasizing their innovative use of data and flexible advertising solutions. He stresses the importance of moving away from legacy retail media strategies and advocates for a “test and learn” mentality. He shares insights on their groundbreaking "MPDLab" initiative and how Ocado's comprehensive data approach sets it apart from competitors. Jack also discusses key industry challenges, like a greater need for measurement standardization and the essential skill set for current and future leaders in a dynamic retail media landscape.

Here are some key talking points from the episode:

• Understanding Ocado's Retail Business
• Innovation in Retail Media to Drive Rapid Product Launch
• How Ocado Ads Sets Itself Apart from Other Players
• The Need for Flexibility and a Customer-Centric Approach
• The Need for Standardising Measurements in Retail Media
• Attributes of a Retail Media Leader

Jack started his career at IRI before moving to Dunnhumby in 2015, a global leader in customer data science. After various commercial roles at Dunnhumby, working with P&G, GSK, and L'Oréal, Jack led a programme to develop a new approach for commercializing Clubcard data across a client syndicate. Jack then went on to manage several teams responsible for commercializing Tesco Clubcard data and insight solutions before working directly with the Tesco insight team, managing a group of insight managers and data science teams to advise on the launch of Aldi Price Match and Clubcard prices.

Since joining Ocado back in 2021, Jack has led teams responsible for the data monetization of Ocado's wealth of sales and customer data and now leads Ocado Ads, Ocado's retail media network.

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