Meet 16 Execs Building Ad Businesses From Brands Like Chase and Home Depot

Every company from retailers to banks are looking to cash in on ad revenue. The rise of retail media promises advertisers the ability to target and measure ads using first-party data like sales, email addresses, and loyalty programs. Non-retailers like United and JPMorgan Chase as well as specialty retailers like Sephora have jumped into advertising to entice brands with prominent placements on ecommerce websites and data to better target programmatic and social ads. Retailers are also looking for new ways to pitch in-store advertising to brands—formats like digital billboards and signage. But Amazon’s dominance looms over these companies’ efforts. Advertisers are expected to spend $140 billion globally on retail media this year with Amazon netting $104 billion of that money, according to Emarketer. Within the US, Amazon is expected to make $42 billion, Walmart is expected to make $4 billion and Target is expected to make $1.76 billion from advertising this year. ADWEEK identified 15 specialty ad networks and the 16 executives leading them. This list is not inclusive of all specialty retail media networks—retail tech firm Mimbi estimates that there are more than 200 retail media networks. This list is based on our reporting and is based on factors including a company's volume of ecommerce sales, demand from advertisers, and companies with executives who specifically are responsible for leading ad businesses. Below are the ad networks in alphabetical order by company name. CVSExecutive: Parbinder Dhariwal, vp and general manager of CVS Media Exchange Parbinder Dhariwal, vp and general manager of CVS Media Exchange. With 74 million members, CVS Media Exchange is banking on data from its 23-year-old ExtraCare loyalty program to differentiate itself in retail media. But industry challenges have plagued the business this year, with leaders announcing a $2 billion cost-cutting plan during a quarterly earnings call on August 7. Still, the 61-year-old company continues to invest in retail media infrastructure both in ecommerce and in-store ads. CVS partnered with Pinterest and The Trade Desk to run offsite ads. And the retailer is adding 2,000 in-store digital screens to store with plans for more next year. CVS currently has around 9,000 locations that engage roughly 5 million people each day. At the helm is Parbinder Dhariwal, vice president and general manager of CVS Media Exchange. He brings experience from over three years at Walmart Connect, where he led the beauty business, as well as stints at CBS and Spotify. DoorDashExecutive: Toby Espinosa, vp of ads Toby Espinosa, vice president of ads at DoorDash. Founded in 2013, DoorDash and its peers have transformed the food delivery landscape—creating a network of gig workers that restaurants of any size can plug into, and, hopefully, scoop up incremental sales. In 2021, the company launched DoorDash Ads. The business expanded on existing capabilities, like promotions and homepage banner ads, to include sponsored listings. Those sponsored listing ads, however, don’t require advertisers to pay unless someone places an order after clicking—a model that aims to give small businesses a better, more effective way to advertise. As it has expanded into grocery and convenience delivery, it has also begun to draw more CPG advertisers. DoorDash allows advertisers to target based on taste-based audience segments, using purchase history data from its 37 million monthly active users. This year, it’s beginning to offer offsite targeting to advertisers as well. Toby Espinosa, who’s been at DoorDash for over nine years and is now vice president of ads, built the ad business from the ground up. DoorDash also opted to set up an in-house tech stack rather than partner with an adtech company. ExpediaExecutive: Rob Torres, svp of media solutions Rob Torres, svp of media solutions at Expedia. Capitalizing on its traveling clientele, which creates a self-selecting pool of higher-income shoppers, Expedia launched its travel media network, Expedia Group Media Solutions, in May. The network builds upon a 20-year-old ad business at Expedia, which had previously been selling onsite display ads and sponsored listing placements for years. As part of the launch, which signals a new investment, Expedia debuted new capabilities allowing advertisers to target the company’s audiences on connected TV, social platforms, and across the open web. Expedia hopes that will draw more advertisers that don’t sell bookings or experiences via the travel company’s website. As senior vice president of media solutions at Expedia, Rob Torres leads the company’s ad business, which accounted for $145 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, up from $99 million in Q1 of 2023. Growth continued in Q2 at a rate of 28% year over year. GopuffExecutive: Daniel Folkman, svp of business Daniel Folkman, senior vp of business at GoPuff. Gopuff’s goal is to become the “fabric of instant commerce,” according to its senior vice president of business, Daniel Folkman. With a network of micro-fulfillment centers across the country, Gopuff’s app and website allow people to get anything—snacks, sodas, alcohol, over-the-counter medicine, diapers, pregnancy tests, and cigarettes, for example—delivered to their doorstep in 15 minutes. Gopuff was founded in 2013. Gopuff made a big investment to bring its ad business in-house this year and now owns the tech behind its sponsored product ads, behavioral and contextual targeting capabilities, in-app display, and post-order checkout ads. Advertisers can also target Gopuff audiences offsite, and participate in what the company calls instant sampling. Instant sampling allows brands to give away a product with someone’s order. However, because the platform owns the data on that person’s purchase history, Gopuff can track whether the sample results in repeat purchases. Brands can also work with Gopuff to test new packaging or flavors via instant sampling. Home DepotExecutive: Melanie Babcock, vp of Orange Apron Media and monetization Melanie Babcock, vp of Orange Apron Media and monetization at Home Depot. Home Depot debuted its retail media network, initially called Retail Media+, in 2018. In March, the company doubled down on its ad business, rebranding to Orange Apron Media, and hosted its first in-person retail media marketing summit. Melanie Babcock, who’s been with the home improvement retailer for over a decade, leads the media network as vice president of Orange Apron Media and monetization. This year, the company focused on expanding advertising opportunities for brands that don’t sell products in Home Depot stores. Those advertisers can buy in-store ad placements or ecommerce ads. Home Depot is also building out in-store digital and audio formats and has inked partnerships with The Trade Desk and TelevisaUnivision. JPMorgan ChaseExecutive: Rich Muhlstock, president of Chase Media Solutions Rich Muhlstock, president of Chase Media Solutions at JPMorgan Chase. Financial giant JPMorgan Chase has loads of data about what people buy and wants to help brands use it to reach specific audiences. Rich Muhlstock is president of Chase Media Solutions, the ad business that Chase launched in April. The ad business is the result of Chase’s 2022 acquisition of marketing firm Figg. Muhlstock is also head of offers and ecommerce for Chase. Before running the ad business, Muhlstock worked in marketing-related product innovations at Chase and helped develop tools including Chase Offers as well as financial health tools. Before joining Chase in 2018, Muhlstock held marketing roles at Hippo, E*Trade, and agencies including WPP-owned Taxi. The group sells targeted promotions and offers to brands based on the financial institution’s 80 million customers. The ads are part of the Chase Offers program that offers members discounts within Chase’s mobile app and website. Air Canada, Whataburger, and Blue Bottle Coffee are a few brands that have worked with Chase. For Whataburger, ads for the burger chain’s cash-back program were targeted to new customers by zeroing in on people who hadn’t visited in the past year. The tactic netted a 12% increase in average order for new customers compared to loyal customers, according to Chase. All told, the campaign ran for 31 days and generated $3.8 million in Whataburger sales, according to Chase. Lowe’sExecutive: John Storms, general manager and head of Lowe’s Media Network John Storms, general manager and head of Lowe’s Media Network at Lowe's. Lowe's launched an ad business in 2021, and the home improvement retailer first worked with retail media adtech firms before taking its ad business in-house. The retailer recently rebranded its ad business to be called Lowe’s Media Network. Lowe’s pitches its audience of more than 120 million shoppers that advertisers use for insights and targeting on Lowe’s website and properties like streaming TV and digital billboards through a partnership with Yahoo. Lowe’s sells email, search, and social ads through partnerships with Google, Meta, and Pinterest. The retailer also sells an audio ad format that plays promos in stores and provides measurement tools aimed at showing advertisers if their ads drove sales after they run. More than 300 brands have run ads through the ad network, led by John Storms, general manager and head of Lowe’s Media Network. Storms joined Lowe’s in 2022 and was formerly head of client services for Lowe’s ad business before being promoted to head of retail media in April. SephoraExecutive: Marco Steinsieck, head of Sephora Media Network for Sephora North America Marco Steinsieck, head of Sephora Media Network for Sephora North America. Sephora’s two-year-old ad division, called Sephora Media Network, helps brands reach beauty enthusiasts. The program is only open by invitation to advertisers, and Sephora says that it has worked with more than 150 brands. Marco Steinsieck is head of Sephora Media Network for Sephora North America. He’s responsible for overseeing the ad business’ strategy, product development, and operations. He joined Sephora in 2022 and previously helped build Staples’ ad business. Sephora Media Network uses the retailer’s first-party data from its loyalty program to run targeted ads on Sephora’s website and app and other formats off of its website like streaming TV, social, audio, and display. Advertisers who use Sephora’s ad products get reporting and analytics to track the performance of ads. This year, Sephora is particularly pitching its Gen Z and BIPOC audiences to advertisers as well as video placements. In one example, Sephora made different creatives for an undisclosed brand focused on Gen Z, using low-production assets on social media and more-produced assets for streaming TV. T-MobileExecutive: Jean-Paul Colaco, svp and chief T-Ads officer Jean-Paul Colaco, senior vice president and chief T-Ads officer at T-Mobile. In April, T-Mobile launched a retail media network and claims that its ad products reach 240 million people. The telecom company sells ads that appear on screens installed in 11,000 T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile stores. T-Mobile also sells ad placements within its app called T Life. Jean-Paul Colaco, senior vice president and chief T-Ads officer at T-Mobile, joined last year to lead the group. Colaco is a former ad sales exec from WarnerMedia and Hulu. T-Mobile’s ads use anonymized data from its stores and apps to target ads. The telecom company also works with ad-supported streamer Plex to serve personalized ads. In the future, T-Mobile also plans to personalize the content on Plex. T-Mobile’s ad arm sells ads viewed on 55,000 screens within ride-sharing vehicles, with plans to have 100,000 screens available for advertisers this year. PayPalExecutive: Mark Grether, svp and general manager of PayPal Ads Mark Grether, svp and general manager at PayPal Ads. PayPal is in the process of building an ad business that will pitch its data that tracks what people buy and how they use the company's services including the money-sharing app Venmo. The company hired digital advertising veteran Mark Grether earlier this year as senior vice president and general manager to build out the ad business. Grether is largely credited with building a billion-dollar ad business for Uber with 500,000 advertisers. His mandate at PayPal is similar. Grether is responsible for building the ad products, sales team, and infrastructure that PayPal needs to sell targeted ads that allow advertisers to zero in on specific types of shoppers. PayPal has an existing ad format called Advanced Offers that sends PayPal users personalized offers and discounts. But the broader goal of PayPal’s business is to sell data that’s used by advertisers to target ads outside of its platform like digital and TV ads. UberExecutives: Megan Ramm, head of Americas; and Paul Wright, head of international markets Megan Ramm, head of Americas and Paul Wright, head of international markets at Uber. Uber Advertising launched formally in 2022 and expects to make more than $1 billion in annual revenue this year, up from a $650 million annual revenue run rate last year—thanks in large part to its global reach. The ads business allows brands to promote themselves in Uber’s main rideshare app or its food delivery arm, Uber Eats, which operates in more than 70 and 45 countries, respectively. The company’s ad business was built under the leadership of Mark Grether, who joined the platform in 2021 from Amazon Ads and moved over to PayPal in June. Uber Advertising is currently co-led by Megan Ramm, head of Americas, and Paul Wright, head of international markets. In addition to traditional placements like sponsored listing ads and in-app banner ads, Uber started selling its Journey Ads, which show up in the Uber app during a trip, programmatically in June. It also recently partnered with T-Mobile to bring video ads to tablets inside rideshare vehicles, building on the digital out-of-home placements available on top of some rideshare vehicles—similar to classic taxi topper ads. Ulta BeautyExecutive: Brandi Pitts, svp of brand marketing and media Brandi Pitts, svp of brand marketing and media at Ulta Beauty. The beauty retailer formally launched an ad business in 2022 after testing it for a year. Brandi Pitts, senior vice president of brand marketing and media, leads the group called UB Media and is also responsible for Ulta Beauty’s brand strategy, social media, creative, and media. She is a former marketing exec at Meta and joined Ulta Beauty in 2023. UB Media heavily leans on Ulta Beauty’s loyalty program which has more than 43 million members. More than 300 advertisers target ads using this data, according to Ulta. Advertisers run ads on Ulta Beauty’s ecommerce site and platforms including Meta, YouTube, and Snap. Ulta is working on developing ad formats for streaming TV this year. Measurement is also a big part of UB Media's pitch, and the retailer claims that it can help brands measure return on ad spend and sales. UnitedExecutive: Richard Nunn, CEO of MileagePlus Richard Nunn, CEO of MileagePlus at United. Ads are coming to the back of airline seats. In June, United launched an advertising arm called Kinective Media that uses the airline’s data about travelers to serve personalized ads on the screens built into airline seats. Advertisers include Macy’s, Norwegian Cruise Line, and JPMorgan Chase, and the ads feature content and offers. In addition to the in-airplane screens, the ads will also appear in United’s app. United says that the data used for advertising will be aggregated and anonymous, restricting advertisers from accessing personal information. Richard Nunn, CEO of United’s frequent flier program MileagePlus leads Kinective Media. Before joining United in 2023, Nunn worked at adtech firms including Comcast and Nexxen (formerly Tremor International). WalgreensExecutive: Abi Subramanian, group vp of customer marketing and media monetization Abi Subramanian, group vp of customer marketing and media monetization at Walgreens. Walgreens Advertising Group, the retail media arm of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, was formed in 2020 in an attempt to monetize data from its loyalty program of more than 100 million members. This year has been challenging for the pharmacy chain—and for its entire category—leaving WAG as one of the only potential bright spots in the company. It plans to shutter up to a quarter of its 8,700 stores as more people order prescriptions online and don't visit stores. WAG has continued to invest in the ad business, though. Throughout 2024, it’s focused on building more customer insights, planning, and measurement tools into its self-serve platform, adding partnerships with Meta and Snapchat. It also launched a six-month in-store signage pilot, added a Circana-based customer insights tool, and partnered with LiveRamp to improve data portability speeds. Abi Subramanian, group vice president of customer marketing and media monetization, has been leading the RMN since he joined from Lowe’s in November. Before his nearly two-year stint at the home improvement retailer, he spent more than six years with Sam’s Club as head of the company’s media group. WayfairExecutive: Arun Batra, global head of retail media Brands that sell through Wayfair can advertise within keyword searches on the online retailer. For example, a brand can target people searching for a blue chair. Wayfair’s ad business has been around for a few years, and the retailer manages it in-house. In addition to the standard search ads, Wayfair also sells a banner ad product called Sponsored Shops. Brands can pay to promote products that appear in cobranded ads on TV, Wayfair’s catalog, and influencer marketing. The retailer’s first-party data about what people buy underpins the ad offerings. Wayfair claims that its ad network reaches 22 million people across North America and Europe. Arun Batra has been the global head of retail media for Wayfair since 2022. Batra leads the group’s commercial and technology teams. Before his current role, Batra worked in merchandising roles at Wayfair and joined the company in 2018. Before Wayfair, Batra was a project leader focusing on digital innovation at Boston Consulting Group.