7 Retail Media Upfront Secrets: What Home Depot Got Right (And What Others Are Missing) - Retail Media Breakfast Club

Podcast Summary: Retail Media Breakfast Club

Host: Kiri Masters
Episode: 7 Retail Media Upfront Secrets: What Home Depot Got Right (And What Others Are Missing)
Date: April 28, 2026
Duration: ~10 min

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Kiri Masters dives into the lessons learned from Home Depot's third annual "Orange Apron Media" upfront event in Atlanta. The focus is on what Home Depot nailed in their event format that other retail media networks often overlook. Kiri unpacks seven key observations, providing best-in-class insights for organizing impactful retail media events that drive genuine engagement and leave a lasting impression.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Not Trying to Be Amazon Unboxed

Timestamp: 00:32

Home Depot avoided replicating Amazon's large-scale, multi-day "Unboxed" conference.
Their event was “fit to purpose and fit to size”: single day, single venue, focused audience.
“No sprawling expo floor, no press circus. There isn’t just one playbook of how to do this.” (A, 01:09)
Takeaway: Events succeed when tailored to the brand's own scale and needs, not by copying industry giants.

2. A Closed Advertiser Universe as a Strength

Timestamp: 01:30

Home Depot's limited supplier base allows almost all key advertisers to gather in one room.
This enables richer, more productive conversations and buy-in than a typical trade show.
“That constraint turns into a strength. The in fronts that they host can touch on the full range of their capabilities, answer questions in real time, and build buy-in across the supplier base more effectively than a trade show booth ever could.” (A, 02:02)

3. Merchants on Stage First, Not Media Teams

Timestamp: 02:23

The agenda began with merchandising (not media) keynotes, underlining business priorities.
Product and media updates came later; “the agenda really spoke for itself.”
This subtle decision effectively communicated the retailer’s intent and values to attendees.

4. Serving Three Audiences Simultaneously

Timestamp: 03:09

Primary audience: suppliers (advertisers).
Also present: tech and integration partners (e.g., Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Vantage, Router).
Home Depot employees: the internal media team’s growth discussed (from 30 people in 2020 to 400+ in 2026).
Internal team members, especially engineers, drew pride and motivation from seeing leaders present their work:
- “Seeing their tech leader…present the work that they had been building for the last year, maybe more, these important projects...finally get to see the light of day and get everyone exciting…an event like this doubles as a rallying point…” (A, 04:01)

5. Supplier Voices in the Program

Timestamp: 05:15

New this year: suppliers participated in on-stage panels and were featured in video testimonials.
This programming gave “a lot of social proof” and broke up the monotony of sales sessions.
“I think it was really well done.” (A, 05:57)
Notable for giving authenticity and credibility to the event.

6. Venue Reinforced the Brand

Timestamp: 06:10

Hosted at the College Football Hall of Fame, tying into Home Depot’s heavy sports sponsorship identity.
“For the attendees, it was a hit...sports sponsorship is a core part of Home Depot’s broader brand identity.”
Last year’s venue was also a sports facility, reinforcing consistency.
Memorable moment: Home Depot showcased upcoming ads for “FIFA, March Madness” at the event.

7. Intentional, Deep Relationships with Press and Analysts

Timestamp: 07:14

Only two journalists/analysts attended, but were given extensive access.
Result: “Substantive coverage rather than a handful of social posts from the back of a keynote hall.” (A, 08:12)
Kiri notes she organically wrote three pieces from the event because of the rich experience and depth of information.
For other retailers: quality, depth, and exclusivity with media trump broad and shallow coverage.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Event Scale:
“Home Depot built something fit to purpose and fit to size. One day, one venue, a focused audience…” (A, 00:47)
On Supplier Engagement:
“Getting the suppliers up on stage for a panel was a new part of the programming…gave a lot of social proof to the event and it breaks up the inevitable sales pitch cadence.” (A, 05:30)
On Internal Team Value:
“An event like this doubles as a rallying point where they get to see what they’ve been working on and feel a sense of pride around delivering that to their customers.” (A, 04:26)
On Brand-Building:
“Choosing these venues that reflect [sports sponsorship] really signals that back to attendees and also just gave many people who really love college football a reason to be super excited about showing up...” (A, 06:38)
On Press Relations:
“They went narrow and deep rather than wide and shallow with press, and the result is substantive coverage rather than a handful of social posts from the back of a keynote hall.” (A, 08:12)

Future Trend & Final Thoughts

Timestamp: 08:52

The format of "upfront" retail media events is gaining traction; not every retailer needs their own, but the approach is proving valuable.
Highlight: Upcoming “Showcase” event in New York (Ascendant Network), as a collective upfront for several networks.
Key lesson: “There’s real value in getting your advertisers in a room on your terms with a story worth telling.” (A, 09:44)

Structured Takeaways for Listeners

Right-sizing, specificity, and authenticity in event design have outsized impact.
Supplier and employee participation are crucial for engagement and pride.
Event environment and brand alignment reinforce messaging powerfully.
Press strategy should focus on building deep, qualitative coverage.
The "upfront" model and hybrid/shared events offer promising strategies, especially for networks with smaller advertiser bases.

For listeners who missed this episode:
Kiri Masters provides a concise, expert breakdown of why Home Depot’s approach to their retail media upfront stands out, offering actionable insights for anyone in retail media, event strategy, or brand communications.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Home Depot's Orange Apron Media held its third annual in France in Atlanta last week. I drove an hour through the horrible Atlanta traffic to get there, but pretty much everyone else had flown in for the day. And that really tells you something. A few hundred brands or suppliers in Home Depot parlance traveled to Atlanta for a single day event and left energized. In a year where everyone's questioning ROI on conference travel, that's a compelling pull. I covered many of the product announcements in a couple of pieces from last week, but today I want to talk about something a little bit different. What Home Depot got right about the event itself and what other retail media networks can learn from that format. I have seven observations to share with you. Let's let's jump in. Number one, they didn't try to be Amazon unboxed. A lot of retail media leaders probably look at Amazon's multi day unbox extravaganza and think we could never do that. They're right and they shouldn't try. Home Depot built something fit to purpose and fit to size. One day, one venue, a focused audience of the suppliers who actually buy their media product. No sprawling expo floor, no press circus. There isn't just one playbook of how to do this. Number two, a closed advertiser universe is actually an advantage. Home Depot is a single category retailer with a curated catalog and a finite set of brand suppliers. That means they can realistically get most of their key advertisers in one room. So something that other retailers might never be able to pull off. And that constraint turns into a strength. The in fronts that they host can touch on the full range of their capabilities, answer questions in real time, and build buy in across the supplier base more effectively than a trade show booth ever could. Number three, they put merchants on stage first. This is something I talked about length in my recap of it last week. I'll link up to it in the show notes. But important to note here, the first keynotes of the day came from the merchandising organization, not the media team. Product announcements didn't start until the afternoon, and this wasn't an explicit call out where they were beating everyone over the head. It was just that the agenda really spoke for itself about what the priorities were and what they really wanted to get across to attendees. And I thought it was a very thoughtful way to get that message across. Number four, the event served three audiences at once. The suppliers in the seats were the obvious audience, but the room also included tech partners, integration partners, companies where you can extend your orange Apron Media buying through like Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Google, and then also the underlying tech partners that Orange Apron works with, like Meta, Router, Vantage. They're all essential to Orange Apron's ecosystem. And then there were the Home Depot employees. That team responsible for the media product has grown from about 30 people in 2020 to more than 400 today. Not all of them were there, but there was a really good representation. And I spoke with a few folks on the engineering side who I've met previously who were really excited about seeing their tech leader, Arun Ramaswamy, present the work that they had been building for the last year, maybe more, these important projects that they had been involved in that finally get to see the light of day and get everyone exciting. And so that's a real wrap for a team of this size. An event like this doubles as a rallying point where they get to see what they've been working on and feel a sense of pride around delivering that to their customers. Number five, they brought supplier voices into the programming. Home Depot brought suppliers on stage for one of the panels and throughout the day they ran video testimonials up on the big screen so people could hear from suppliers about what they had been doing with Orange Apron. And that's a small programming choice that I think was very effective. It gave a lot of social proof to the event and it breaks up the inevitable sales pitch cadence. From what I understand, getting the suppliers up on stage for a panel was a new part of the programming. So I think, and I think it was really well done. Miracle Ads is the only retail media solution designed for both 1P and and 3Pmarketplace brands. Why does that matter? Marketplace sellers demand a seamless advertiser experience that still offers full funnel ad formats. And retailers need a flexible solution that allows you to scale your media business. Learn more@miracle.com that's M I R A K L.com number six. The venue reinforce the brand. The College Football hall of Fame where they hosted the event in Atlanta, I'll be honest, was completely lost on me as a sports indifferent Australian. Personally, I couldn't care less. But for the attendees, it was a hit. And last year Home Depot chose Truist park, who is another, which is another major Atlanta sports venue. And sports sponsorship is a core part of Home Depot's broader brand identity. They showcased a few ads that they have coming up around FIFA March Madness. It's a really strong part of the brand identity and choosing these venues that reflect that detail really signals that back to attendees and also just gave many people who really love college football a reason to be super excited about showing up. So I think this was a fantastic venue choice on their on their part. And number seven, be intentional with press and analysts. Are you sick of hearing from me about Orange Apron Media yet? Because this is the third piece I've written about them in a week. I did a column about their announcement, I did a column about this at the Drum, I did a profile of their category Specific Advantages on this podcast and for my own newsletter last week and now this one. And that wasn't my plan going in, but Home Depot gave me enough access, context and material across a single day that three very different angles emerged naturally. Now there were only two journalists slash analysts at the in fronts, me and Karen Jacobs, who is the senior editor of Retail and performers at eMarketer, and she wrote a piece about Orange Apron's new partnership with Reddit last week. So what they did here was they went narrow and deep rather than wide and shallow with press, and the result is substantive coverage rather than a handful of social posts from the back of a keynote hall. And so I think for retailers and commerce media networks, thinking about analysts and press relationships, you only need to give two or three people enough to actually write about and go deep with those relationships. And they did a really great job of hosting wrapping up here. Not every retailer needs its own upfront event, and Home Depot certainly wasn't the first to host one. But the format is really gaining momentum. Ascendant Network, which runs the very the fantastic Retail Media Boot Camp series, just announced a week or two ago, a new event called Showcase, which is a collective upfront that will be in New York this September, where multiple commerce media networks are going to be able to present to brands and agencies in a single day. And for networks that don't have the supplier base or the brand advertiser base to fill a room of their own, or those who are looking to reach new advertisers, that kind of shared format could be a really smart compliment, or even if you're still doing one yourself in this case, a great way to reach new people and get a bit of a halo effect from press and analysts as well. Either way, the underlying idea is the same. There's real value in getting your advertisers in a room on your terms with a story worth telling. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you tomorrow.