The Big Impression: “Albertsons’ Brian Monahan on Turning Shopper Data into Retail Media Gold”

Podcast: The Big Impression
Host: The Current (Damian Fowler & Ilyse Liffreing)
Guest: Brian Monahan, SVP of Retail Media, Albertsons Media Collective
Date: December 17, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores how Albertsons Media Collective is leveraging shopper data to build a sophisticated, outcomes-driven retail media network. Brian Monahan, a veteran of Walmart Connect, Dentsu, and Pinterest, shares insights from his first months leading Albertsons’ retail media strategy. The conversation dives deep into how brands, both big and small, use data-driven targeting, creative, and new technologies (notably AI) to maximize campaign effectiveness—and what the future of retail media holds.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Albertsons’ Approach: Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Media

• Objective: Albertsons aims to help brands connect with their shared customers in ways that grow both businesses, focusing on relevance and measurable outcomes ([00:56]).
• Campaign Example – Kraft Heinz: By bundling complementary lunch solution products (e.g., condiments, Oscar Mayer, Lunchables), and using Albertsons’ data to track basket-level conversions, the campaign achieved a 3x improvement over the return on ad spend (ROAS) benchmark ([01:10]).
• Campaign Example – Bumblebee: Used targeted campaigns (including on Pinterest) to attract new-to-category buyers, achieving 63% new customers via Pinterest ([02:23]).

Evolving the Measurement of Retail Media

• Progress Since 2014: The industry has moved beyond simple ROAS toward offering advertisers more KPIs and visibility, such as projected customer lifetime value ([04:59]).
• Quote: “It’s not just a ROAS hammer looking for ROAS nails. We’ve gotten better at the measurement… We don’t want to be grading our own homework.” — Brian Monahan ([05:13])
• Challenge: Significant variation in how the industry calculates KPIs, especially ROAS, with test-and-control experiments seen as the gold standard ([13:27]).

The “Murky Middle” and Roadmap for Growth

• State of the Industry: Retail media is past the launch/honeymoon phase; now it’s in what was termed the “murky middle,” transitioning from trade/shopper marketing budgets to truly competing for national budgets ([06:19]).
• Quote: “A national marketer has infinite choice. So we have to have the right solutions to win in the infinite choice world.” — Brian Monahan ([07:14])
• Solution: Coordinated, full-journey marketing: off-site (Connected TV, paid social, programmatic), on-site, and in-store media must work together for aggregate lift ([07:40]).

Off-site Media as the Next Frontier

• Why Off-site? Humans recall brands over multiple exposures, and retail media must reach shoppers where their attention is (not just at the point of sale). Off-site channels (social, CTV, programmatic) help build mental availability ([09:27]).
• Quote: “We have to speak to them off site as well to build that brand preference and ultimately lift conversion.” ([10:08])

Supporting Small Brands & Local Producers

• Democratizing Access: Albertsons’ network structure empowers regional brands to scale from local to potentially nationwide reach by targeting just their shelf regions, even on a credit card budget ([10:39]).
• Quote: “Albertsons… is a nice on-ramp for small businesses who are trying to get distribution nationwide.” ([11:27])

Differentiating with Scale, Frequency, and Data Depth

• Albertsons, as the second largest grocer, sees customers with high frequency and across diverse household categories, offering robust, up-to-date profiles for targeting ([12:17]).
• Stats: 174 million Americans in top DMAs, 100 million addressable IDs, 47 million in loyalty programs ([12:43]).

Creative as Essential: Unlocking Banner Equity

• Creative and Data: Creative and media are intertwined; using banner store equity (e.g., Safeway, Acme) is a future focus to make ad units more resonant for shared customers ([16:37]).
• Historical Anecdotes: Safeway’s “safe way” name (from cash-and-carry innovation) and banner-specific brand equity stories ([17:21]).
• Quote: “We need to figure out how we bring that equity into the creative along with Jimmy Dean and Bumblebee and Kraft Heinz… There’s not much storytelling. It’s really a job for generative AI.” ([17:35], [18:42])
• Surprise Campaign: A creative spring-cleaning campaign for Jimmy Dean targeting heavy buyers outperformed benchmarks 2x—underscoring the value of standalone creativity ([15:14]).

Technology, AI, and Measurement Innovations

• AI’s Role: From automating media buying/optimization (“black box media machines”) to finding creative drivers and patterns behind successful campaigns ([18:42], [20:10]).
• Quote: “It’s really a job for a machine to learn very quickly of who to target, where to target, what the message is and just keep optimizing to that outcome.” ([18:42])
• AI for Attribution: AI can parse transaction data to uncover which mix of creative, placement, and context led to results ([20:10]).

Responding to Cultural & Economic Shifts

• Consumer anxieties (inflation, affordability, health) are visible in retail data, allowing targeted, helpful campaign responses (e.g., BOGO programs, regional relevance) ([21:28]).
• Quote: “The consumer is going to vote with her checkbook… If you listen, they’ll guide you.” ([21:57])
• Media business exists to drive “collective growth”—win-win for customers, merchants, and advertisers ([23:32]).

New Shopping Behaviors = New Media Surfaces

• Albertsons invests in omnichannel tools—shopping apps, recipe integration, “drive up and go”—creating new touchpoints (like the 5-minute wait at pickup) for engaging media ([24:38]).
• Quote: “These new behaviors… create new surfaces for us as the media company to share something interesting with the customers.” ([25:32])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On evolving targeting:
  “The insights really come down to how you’re defining your different audience segments… and also trying to understand different trip types and needs.” — Brian ([03:32])
• On the need for “murky middle” solutions:
  “The answer lies in mapping full journeys and when we line all those up in aggregate, we see a lift.” ([07:40])
• On creative’s role:
  “A really clever marketing insight and great creative, good media targeting—like that’s the key. It works.” ([29:08])
• On local stores:
  “These local grocers are really the pillars of communities… There’s a relationship there that you don’t get at some of the big national brands.” ([27:39])

Key Timestamps

• [00:56] — Brian Monahan introduces the customer-centric media vision
• [01:10–02:16] — Kraft Heinz lunch solution campaign insight
• [02:23] — Pinterest/Bumblebee new buyer campaign results
• [04:59] — Reflections on the evolution of retail media measurement
• [06:45] — “Murky middle” industry status and competitive landscape
• [09:27] — Why off-site is the next step for retail media
• [10:39] — Small/local brand empowerment through shopper targeting
• [12:17] — Albertsons’ frequency/scale advantage
• [13:27] — ROAS nuances and the “crisis of confidence” in measurement
• [15:14] — Jimmy Dean spring-cleaning campaign success
• [17:21] — Safeway’s “safe way” brand legacy explained
• [18:42] — Generative AI and creative possibilities
• [20:10] — AI’s future in campaign attribution
• [21:57] — Data-driven response to inflation and economic anxieties
• [24:38] — Omnichannel behaviors and emerging media touchpoints
• [26:25] — Brian’s “obsession”: bringing banner brand power into media creative
• [27:36] — If Brian had an unlimited marketing budget…
• [29:08] — Closing take on the power of creative and media targeting

Conclusion: The Future of Retail Media at Albertsons

Brian Monahan paints a vision of retail media where rich customer data, national and local brand campaigns, and powerful creative join forces. Albertsons leans into omnichannel, omnipresent retail media, with an eye on both technological (AI-enabled automation and measurement) and human (brand storytelling and local equity) strengths. With a keen focus on brand lift, incrementality, and authentic resonance, Albertsons aims to drive not just sales, but meaningful growth for advertisers and communities.

Memorable Closing:
“A really clever marketing insight and great creative, good media targeting—like that’s the key. It works.” — Brian Monahan ([29:08])