Digital Envy is Holding Back In-Store Retail Media — The Middlemen Podcast
Digital Envy is Holding Back In-Store Retail Media
S3 E10 · Apr 14, 2026 · 45 min
Paul Brenner and Michelle Dooley on the four scorecards problem and the illusion of precision.
Show notes
In-store retail media has gone through multiple resets — from camera-based measurement to dwell time, and now back toward proving incrementality across channels. But are we actually solving the right problem?
Tom sits down with Paul Brenner (In-Store Marketplace) and Michelle Dooley (Catalyst Media) to unpack what’s really holding in-store back — and why the industry may be over-indexing on measurement instead of fixing deeper organizational challenges.
What we cover
- Why in-store measurement keeps getting reset
- The disconnect between merchant, media, and store teams
- Why better attribution alone won’t unlock growth
- A new approach to aligning stakeholders (Shopper Purchase Rate)
- What it will take for in-store media to scale
Chapters
- 00:10 Introduction: Digital Envy in Retail Media
- 01:52 Meet Paul Brenner & Michelle Dooley
- 07:49 How In-Store Retail Media Lost Its Way
- 11:30 What the UK Gets Right About Retail Media
- 13:15 Why Measurement Breaks Down in Practice
- 17:01 The Four Scorecards Problem
- 19:42 A New Approach: Shopper Purchase Rate (SPR)
- 23:46 The Illusion of Precision in Retail Media
- 29:35 iROAS, Incrementality, and Early Roundel Lessons
- 41:27 What Needs to Happen Next