In this episode, I dive into a fascinating recent conversation featuring Gildan’s Jason O’Toole on The CPG Guys podcast and unpack a powerful idea that stopped me in my tracks: brand media lowers the tax you pay on growth. If you’ve ever struggled to justify upper-funnel spend or connect brand investment to real performance outcomes, this one’s for you.

I break down three key takeaways from the discussion, including how Gildan is structuring its teams to align brand and commerce, why traditional metrics like impressions are losing relevance, and what a high-impact Amazon campaign can teach us about speed, scale, and full-funnel execution. There’s a lot here that challenges conventional retail media thinking so let’s get into it!

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – Why apparel is one of the most competitive and margin-pressured categories in retail
[01:12] – The idea that “brand media lowers the tax you pay on growth” and why it matters
[02:40] – How budget ownership shapes the role retail media plays inside organizations
[03:31] – Why impressions are a flawed metric and what to focus on instead
[05:13] – The two metrics that actually matter: branded search and incrementality
[06:30] – Inside Gildan’s Amazon homepage campaign and what made it so effective

Links & Resources

Listen to the full CPG Guys episode: Winning in Social Commerce with Gildan's Jason O'Toole & Katie Tripodi
Subscribe to The CPG Guys: Apple Podcasts and YouTube
Follow Jason O'Toole, Head of Connected Commerce & Media @ Glidan, on LinkedIn
Follow Katie Sierveld Tripodi, Director, Ecommerce Activation and Strategy @ Hanesbrands Inc., on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:
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