Podean, an independent retail media and marketplaces agency, recently launched the "WOAS" Awards (Waste of Ad Spend Awards), a parody award highlighting how brands unknowingly waste retail media budgets. The awards spotlight three key issues: ineffective targeting, unoptimized budgets, and disconnects between media buying and business goals. Industry experts including Vanessa Hung, Danny Silverman, Tony Crutcher, and Mike Feldman weigh in on additional problems, from applying uniform strategies across different product categories to misallocating traditional digital talent to retail media roles without proper training. As retailers demand increased spending and the ecosystem grows more complex, cutting ineffective spending and implementing specialized expertise is becoming a competitive necessity rather than just a cost-saving measure.

Kiri's Forbes Post on WOAS: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kirimasters/2025/04/22/retail-medias-waste-problem-sparks-industry-awards-for-bad-practices/

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CHAPTERS:

(00:00) About Today's Topic

(01:33) About the Show

(01:54) Introduction to the WOAS Awards

(02:22) Identifying Retail Media Waste

(03:32) Insights from Industry Experts

(03:51) Vanessa Hung on Category-Specific Strategies

(05:30) Danny Silverman on Talent and Org Design

(06:34) Tony Retcher on Fragmented Retail Media

(07:15) Mike Feldman on Cutting Ineffective Spend

WOAS: Waste of Ad Spend

Retail Media Breakfast Club