SHOWCASE in the news

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A Bigger Role For Retail Media Comes With A Higher Bar For Measurement

Retail media’s explosive growth over the past few years is the result of a straightforward pitch to advertisers: the ability to reach consumers close to the point of purchase, connect media exposure to transactions and prove conversion.

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Retail Media Rivals Host an Upfront-Style Event to Court Ad Buyers

Good morning. If you want ad dollars, you have to put on a show. Rival retail media operators held their first upfront-style pitchfest yesterday to court ad buyers, and the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Patrick Coffee was in the room.

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How 11 retail media networks are trying to differentiate themselves to advertisers

After the launch of many different retail media networks over the past few years, all these new divisions of various consumer-facing companies are now fighting for ad dollars. That brought many of them to New York City last week.

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Retail media has an identity crisis: as networks proliferate, how do they differentiate?

Retail media has a problem. Everyone wants to be different; yet increasingly everyone is different in exactly the same way.

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Why measurement issues still plague commerce media—and other takeaways from the channel’s first upfront

Commerce media networks have spent years pulling advertising dollars toward the bottom of the funnel. Now, many want a bigger piece of brands’ broader media budgets.

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Big-Box Briefing: Dick’s leans on youth sports in pitch to advertisers

The leader of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ advertising division hopes to recruit CPG brands, quick-service restaurants and even automakers to run campaigns in its stores and other channels. His pitch to brands and agencies last week centered around the retailer’s presence in youth sports.

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Brand Dollars, Befriending Rivals, and Looming Consolidation: How Retailers Are Plotting the Next Phase of Commerce Media

After years of building ad businesses, retailers are now looking to scale their ad ambitions, which requires bigger brand budgets from marketers and new ways for commerce media companies to work together.

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Ascendant Network Unveils All-Star Keynote and Speaker Lineup for Inaugural SHOWCASE

Ascendant Network today announced an all-star speaker lineup for SHOWCASE, the world’s first retail + commerce media upfront. Taking place on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at The Times Center in New York City, the invite-only gathering will convene decision-makers across major holding company agencies, brand marketers, and retail and commerce media networks representing over $1 trillion in annual retail sales.

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Major Agency and Buy-Side Leaders Confirm Participation in SHOWCASE: The World’s First Retail + Commerce Media Upfront

Today, Ascendant Network announced that leaders from holdcos like Publicis Commerce, Dentsu, WPP, Omnicom, and IPG, along with independent agencies such as PMG and Tinuiti, will attend SHOWCASE: the world’s first retail + commerce media upfront, taking place on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at The Times Center in New York City.

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7 Things That Hit This Week: Meta's Next Stab at Commerce, New Hires at Sephora and Lowe's, and Pinterest Goes Deep on AI

With the Cannes Lions festival kicking off on Monday, this week saw a deluge of announcements from retailers, retail adtech companies, commerce media networks, and publishers hoping to set the tone for next week’s conversations in the French Riviera.

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Retail Media Networks Are In Their ‘Gangly Teenager’ Phase. They’re Trying to Grow Up.

As retail media networks overtake television in ad revenue, they are also taking a page from the way TV pitches itself to marketers. After media companies like NBCUniversal, Disney and Paramount conclude their annual upfront sales spectacles this spring, companies including Albertsons, Home Depot, DoorDash and JPMorgan Chase will promote their own ad products in a take on the upfronts this September. Minus the celebrity cameos and pop-star serenades. (read more)

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Instacart Ads, Dollar General Media Network, Chewy Ads, and Ahold Delhaize Retail Media Join SHOWCASE: Retail + Commerce Media Upfront

Ascendant Network announced today that a new collective of industry-defining retail and commerce media networks have signed on as sponsoring presenters at the inaugural SHOWCASE event on September 2nd.

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Building Community and Commerce: The Ascendant Network Journey with Susan MacDermid

How do you build a community that transforms careers while shaping an entire industry? Susan MacDermid, founder of Ascendant Network, reveals the strategic decisions behind creating the retail media industry’s most influential professional community and shares hard-won lessons from her journey through digital transformation.  (listen)

Are Ad Networks Cool Again? Oil Costs Are Seeping Into Grocery Aisles

Agents of Confusion Marketers and publishers are testing agentic solutions for media buying. But it’s unclear whether agents will simplify or further obscure the programmatic supply chain. Omnicom CEO John Wren told investors last week that the holdco is testing agent-to-agent campaigns without ad tech fees, Digiday reports. Stagwell, Butler/Till and others are pursuing similar agentic tech. The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green, however, was skeptical of the inefficiencies (read more)

Upfront Season Won’t Conclude This Week

Retail media networks will hold their own version of upfront presentations on September 2 in NYC, organized by Ascendant Network. The event is set to bring together major players, including Albertsons, DoorDash, Home Depot, and JPMorgan, to brief ad agencies on their respective retail media offerings. (read more)

Ascendant Network Unveils SHOWCASE: A New Upfront for Retail Media's Boom

NEW YORK, NY—April 15, 2026— As the advertising world grapples with the explosive and often chaotic growth of retail media, Ascendant Network today announced a major new event designed to bring order to the burgeoning market. The organization is launching SHOWCASE, an inaugural upfront-style marketplace set for September 2, 2026, in New York City, aiming to become the definitive annual gathering for the commerce media industry. The move signals (read more)

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