ShopTalk 2026: What the Industry Is Really Saying (Beyond the Stage) Last week, more than 10,000 retail leaders gathered at Shoptalk Spring 2026 in Las Vegas. On paper, the theme was clear: “Retail in the Age of AI.” But across…
Beyond the Mandalay Bay convention floor, the real deals at Shoptalk 2026 are happening at these curated side events. Verified links, times, and hosts — no fluff. RTM Nexus Picks: If you only hit a few events — prioritize smaller…
Retail media has never been more measurable. Campaigns can be launched in hours. Creativecan be generated in minutes. Performance can be optimized in real time. U.S. retail media spendis projected to surpass $60 billion annually, making it one of the…
The chief marketing officer role is undergoing one of the most significanttransformations in modern executive history—and many organizations still haven’tadjusted to the reality of it. For decades, marketing was evaluated primarily on creativity, messaging, and reach.Campaigns launched. Awareness rose. Awards…
Churn is one of the most misunderstood concepts in business. When customers leave, companies instinctively look for transactional explanations:price, competition, convenience. Those factors matter—but they are rarely the rootcause. They are the final excuse, not the original reason. Long before…
Growth has become the most celebrated metric in modern business. We track itobsessively, reward it aggressively, and often confuse it with success itself. Newmarkets. New customers. New offerings. New locations. Growth looks great in boarddecks and earnings calls. But growth,…
Luxury has changed, even if many luxury brands haven’t. For decades, luxury was defined by accumulation: more features, more options, morevisibility, more exclusivity layered on top of itself. Luxury meant abundance andaccess—something visibly scarce and deliberately elevated above the ordinary.…
There’s a quiet shift happening in how consumers evaluate brands, and it’s exposing aflaw in how many companies still think about influence. Reach is no longer the same thing as trust. In retail, media, and consumer brands, attention can be…
We talk a lot about “influence” in marketing. But most of what gets labeled influencetoday is just reach. The real question for brands—especially in retail, media, and consumer experience—isthis:Who actually moves people… and does it in a way that builds…
Retail is trust. Media is trust. Technology is trust. Consumers don’t separate your brand from your behavior anymore.That’s why the ambassador decision is no longer a creative decision. It’s a valuesdecision. A strong athlete ambassador does three things at once: That’s…