It’s 2026. New budgets. New pressure. New expectations.

And before diving headfirst into the chaos, we’re hitting pause with a rewind.

In this special episode, hosts Nick Morgan and Paul Blackburn look back at some of the most influential conversations from Commerce Media Matters — the ideas, debates, and perspectives that will matter even more in the year ahead.

From the explosive growth of commerce and retail media, to the realities of trust, privacy, and governance, to global shifts in how creativity and commerce collide — this episode is your warm-up lap for 2026.

If you’re building decks, shaping strategies, or gearing up for planning conversations, consider this required listening.

Featuring highlights from conversations with:

• Jason Westcott (Global Head of Commerce Solutions, WPP): On the scale and maturity of commerce and retail media, why it’s now core to the media mix, and what needs to change as it continues to grow.
• Gai Le Roy (CEO, IAB Australia): On trust, privacy, and governance, and why strong frameworks are critical to building confidence and scaling responsibly.
• Kiri Masters (Journalist and podcaster of Retail Media Breakfast Club): Bringing a global, practical lens to how fast the space is evolving — and why learning, openness, and collaboration still matter.
• Colin Lewis (Co-founder of Retail Media Works): Challenging the industry on creativity, effectiveness, and differentiation, and why commerce media needs its own language, thinking, and execution.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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Retail media is booming — but maturity isn’t evenly distributed. Lachlan joins Commerce Media Matters to cut through the hype and grey areas: misaligned incentives, messy data expectations, the “too many screens” problem, offsite extensions, and why we need better briefs, not more buzzwords. From IAB council work to hands-on network builds, he shares a pragmatic view on how retailers, brands, media agencies and tech partners can make retail and commerce media actually work together.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• First-party data as the real product: How data has become the new currency of media, and why retailers must treat it as an asset that powers smarter targeting, better measurement, and more meaningful customer relationships.
• Where everyone’s misaligned (and how to fix it): Retailers, brands, and agencies are still figuring out how to work together. From budget confusion to long-standing silos, Lachlan explains why they’ve been operating in different swim lanes, and what needs to change to bring everyone into alignment.
• Offsite done right: Why retailers can’t rely on onsite media alone and how using offsite channels can extend reach from a small share of e-commerce shoppers to almost their entire audience.
• Incrementality without the buzzword bingo: Why “incremental” is meaningless without context and why brands need to clarify what kind of Incrementality they’re chasing.
• Retail media vs. commerce media: Lachlan’s take on the two: retail media goes deeper with product-level insights, while commerce media goes wider, using more data sources for scale, explaining why both are essential to a connected media strategy.
• The realities of data sharing: Retailers can’t share everything. Understanding what’s commercially sensitive, what can be shared, and where the boundaries lie is key to building stronger partnerships.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Commerce Media Matters and leave us a review on your favourite podcast platform!

In this episode of Commerce Media Matters, Nick and Paul sit down with Kelly Wearmouth, a leader in the world of adtech and retail media. Her career has taken her from working with global brands like Unilever and Microsoft to helping shape Amazon’s advertising business. Now, as Managing Director at Mars United Commerce, she’s driving connected commerce and helping brands rethink how they reach consumers. Kelly shares her journey through adtech, insights on the evolving commerce media landscape, and strategies for brands to stay ahead.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Convergence from opposite ends: Traditional retailers are evolving in-store screens into broader digital capabilities, while digital-first retailers are expanding into physical environments, merging into one connected ecosystem.
• Friction is the silent killer: Removing every click, step, and barrier from sampling, browsing, and checkout can turn moments of inspiration into measurable momentum.
• B2B can be commerce-creative, too: Distributor networks and trade enablement demand new thinking, new training, and new activation layers beyond traditional media.
• Sensory overload: Too much in-store media risks overwhelming shoppers, and why retailers will need to curate their environments as inventory grows.
• Connected creative is a work in progress: The industry is still learning how to pull creative consistently across every touchpoint — and to bring contextual relevance to retailer data beyond ROAS.
• Consolidation is inevitable: As retail media networks fragment, shared infrastructure and marketplace partnerships will streamline access, measurement, and scale.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Commerce Media Matters and leave us a review on your favourite podcast platform!