The Remarkable Rise of Retail Media with Melanie Brown, VP of Home Depot's Orange Apron Media + Monetization

Joining us for the second of three episodes recorded in the Bambuser remote podcast studio/beach cabana at Mandalay Bay during Shoptalk is Melanie Brown Vice President of Orange Apron Media and Monetization for The Home Depot. In a special two segment interview Melanie unpacks The Home Depot's retail media journey, highlighting the company's unique approach, which recently culminated in a doubling down and re-branding of its efforts. We've had analysts and consultants on to explore the rapidly growing retail media world, now we get a deeply experienced practitioner's in-depth perspectives.

As usual we open by dissecting the most important news of the week including the key take-aways from Amazon CEO Andy Jassey's annual shareholder letter, the end to Macy's proxy fight, the big nothing burger that is JC Penney's first new store in eight years, and Richard Baker's return trip to Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Then we tap into Steve's 2024 predictions of a "disruptor reckoning" and news that Rent the Runway sees better days ahead, while Allbird's risks delisting and Billy Reid acquires Knot Standard.

Orange Apron Media

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Don't miss the Leaders Leap virtual launch event on Monday, April 22nd, featuring special guests Seth Godin, Bridget Brennan, Sally Elliott, and Hal Lawton. Pre-register here.

There are just a few more days to take advantage of Leaders Leap pre-order freebies. Go here to see the special offers.

And if you are in Dallas don't miss our in-person live fireside chat, networking, and book signing on April 24. Pre-register here.

About Melanie

Melanie Babcock is the Vice President, Orange Apron Media and Monetization. In this role, Melanie has grown sources of ad revenue, profitability, sales and improved supplier experience.

Melanie joined The Home Depot in 2013, most recently serving as the VP of Integrated Media, which included the launch, development and growth of Retail Media+. Under Melanie’s leadership, her teams transformed The Home Depot’s marketing strategy from a product-centric to a customer-driven marketing strategy.

She scaled personalized customer marketing and worked closely with cross-functional partners to lead the development of marketing experiences more tailored to customers’ shopping and personal preferences. She launched a media measurement practice and changed the marketing team’s key metrics to deliver enterprise, department and incremental sales.

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the all new Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , now available for purchase in the U.S. and available for pre-order at book retailers elsewhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..

Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book.

Michael LeBlanc  is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada.   Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail,

Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.