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Unpacking the Digital shelf is the only podcast created for manufacturers strategizing to win in the digital age.

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Interview: Building the Most Impactful Consumer Products Company of the Next Century, with Arturo Aranda, Director of Brands, Brand Central at Thrasio

Thrasio often gets lumped into the  “Amazon seller aggregator” category. But when you talk to them, that’s just the how. Here’s their mission:”to be the most impactful consumer products company of the next century.” A key part of achieving that mission is creating  and expanding thousands of global brands at scale. The man in charge of  that part of the  mission  is Arturo Aranda, who brings his experience leading creative at BBDO, Facebook, MRM/McCann, working with some of the biggest brands in the world. Rob and Peter dug into what it takes to do brand building at the scale and speed of a Thrasio, and what it means to the company’s overall mission.

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Interview: How We Drive Maximum Growth Needs to Change, with Molly Schonthal, founder of the Digital Shelf Institute Executive Forum, and Chris Perry, Chief Learning Officer at firstmovr

When one ecommerce executive from a global brand tells you they are pushing for a radical rethinking of the beliefs that have driven growth for decades at their company, it’s an interesting anecdote. When 10 executives tell you the same thing, it’s a research project. When Molly Schonthal, founder of the Digital Shelf Institute Executive Forum, and Chris Perry, Chief Learning Officer at firstmovr, started hearing similar anecdotes and data points around shifts from members  of the Executive Forum around the shifts their companies were making to maximize growth - consequential shifts in long-standing pricing strategies, assortment  planning, org and  budget, they decided to tackle bringing a forceful call to action in the market. This new research is titled The Shift to Total Growth Accountability, and Molly and Chris joined Peter to talk it through

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Interview: Driving Loyalty and Growth through the Post-Purchase Consumer Journey, with David Morin, Sr. Director, Retail + Client Strategy at Narvar

Is Loyalty the new CAC? The Post Purchase Consumer Journey represents an multi-staged opportunity to drive loyalty and customer lifetime value, deriving greater margin from the investment in D2C. David Morin, Sr. Director, Retail + Client Strategy at post-purchase platform provider Narvar joined Peter to bring to life the various stages of the post-purchase journey and how brands are intensifying their focus to drive trust, transparency, and advocacy, and making every customer feel like their most important customer. 

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Interview: Caution: Retail Media Might Make You Lazy, with Eric Heller, formerly founder of Marketplace Ignition and Chief Knowledge Officer, Amazon COE at WPP

In the early days at Marketplace Ignition, one of the first marketplace strategy consultancies, the question founder Eric Heller heard repeatedly from his biggest client was “What do I do next?” In some ways, very little has changed. Winning the algorithm requires constant attention, and the new shiny object of retail media should not obscure that fact. Eric, who sold Marketplace Ignition to Wunderman in 2017 and went on to become WPP’s Chief Knowledge Officer for their AMazon Center of Excellence, joined Rob and Peter to highlight the trends that are rapidly shaking the box of ecommerce, media, and omnichannel growth, and how brand execs must keep their eye on the ball.

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Interview: Manage Your Amazon Business the Same Way Amazon Does, with Andrew Hamada, co-founder and CEO, Reason Automation

Inside Amazon, vendor managers are renowned for having vast amounts of data at their fingertips to fine tune performance and, famously, drive negotiation with their brand manufacturer partners. Imagine if you could go to those negotiations, or better yet, fine-tune your Amazon business every day with your own set of financial, retail, advertising, and brand data out of Amazon systems. The team of ex-Amazonians at Reason Automation have set out to provide just that. Rob and Peter sat down with Reason’s co-founder and CEO, to talk about  what data is critical to managing your business and  how they democratize access for any  brand looking to win.

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Interview: Building Scalable, Sustainable Digital-First Omnichannel Brands, with Rich Simpson, Senior Vice President, Customer Development, North America & International at Maesa

What do Drew Barrymore, Mindy McKnight, Taraji P. Henson, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas all have in common, besides being famous, talented, and beautiful? They are building successful brands with beauty brand incubator Maesa. They also all work with Rich Simpson Senior Vice President, Customer Development, North America & International at Maesa. Rich is charged with building a repeatable, scalable, sustainable process to grow Maesa’s brands in a digital-first omnichannel world. It’s challenging, innovative, fun work, and Rich brings the discipline of his big brand experience with General Mills and JnJ and merges that with the agility and creativity demanded by brands built on personal connections and storytelling.

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Interview: Amazon’s Leadership Principles, Refreshed, with John Rossman, Author of the Updated 3rd Edition of Bestseller “The Amazon Way”

Amazon, and the rest of the world has changed a lot since the last edition of John Rossman’s bestselling book on leadership and innovation, The Amazon Way. The updated 3rd edition has hit the digital and physical shelves, and the author joined Peter to talk about how those changes have impacted the classic leadership principles that made Amazon the innovators they are. In this new era, Amazon’s experiences through massive growth have demonstrated that some changes need to be made, changes that are instructive for brands that are riding a wave of change themselves.

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Interview: A Decade of Retail Media Innovation in One Year, with Sherry Smith, Managing Director of Retail Media, Americas at Criteo

Keeping up with the rate of innovation and investment flowing in the retailer ad space is almost an impossible task. It requires both brand and retailers to stay focused on building the capabilities to make the right decision to take greatest advantage of the right opportunities. From her role as Managing Director of Retail Media, Americas at Criteo, Sherry Smith brings her experience running global media agency Triad to the tech space, which gives her a 360 degree view of the ecosystem and best practices in the space.

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Interview: People, Process, and KPIs: Using a Competitive Mindset to Win the Digital Shelf, with Rachel Tetreault, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Digital Commerce at EastPoint Sports

From P&G, to global confectioner Ferrero, and now to helming digital commerce at PE-owned Eastpoint Sports, Rachel Tetreault brings a competitive mindset and a fierce commitment to continually refining the organization, the processes, and the key KPIs it takes to win. Rachel joined Peter to share her key learnings and best practices from across her adventures in ecommerce.

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Interview: Cross-Border Commerce at Scale, with Craig Reed, SVP of Global Trade at Avalara

The opportunity for brands to drive revenue through cross-border commerce is greater than it's ever been. But the complexity keeps rising. The taxman cometh wherever you sell. Craig Reed, SVP of Global Trade at cross-border technology provider Avalara joined Peter and Rob to talk through some of the complexities and the innovations that make it possible to sell globally at the scale that’s right for you.

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Interview: The Future of Retail Media that’s Lifting In-store Sales by 3-5%, with Arsen Avakian, CEO and Co-founder of Cooler Screens

The holy grail of omnichannel marketing is merging the informative richness of the online experience with the see it, feel it, touch it experience of the brick and mortar store. The grail is on its way. Arsen Avakian, formerly CEO and CO-founder of Argo Tea, and now CEO and Co-founder of Cooler Screens, joined Peter to talk about how his company is providing a new digital retail media opportunity in stores that is driving tremendous growth and consumer delight.

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Interview: New Research on Commerce Org Design, with Christina Vail, Director of Client Strategy at Profitero

The number one question on the minds of any commerce executive is how should I organize my teams and processes to drive the right results in the right time? The actual answer  is always, it depends. But  there are clear guideposts and  a maturity curve  to consider along the way. This episode features two people on this topic: Christina Vail, Director of Client Strategy at Profitero, who has just published a new research report on  the topic entitled Building a High-Performance CPG eCommerce Organization. She joins Peter along with guest co-host, Lauren Livak, who ran North American Digital shelf strategy at Johnson and  Johnson and is now a Commerce Strategist for Salsify.

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Interview: Optimizing the Shopper’s Visual Experience, with Jehan Hamedi, Founder and CEO of Vizit

Having the right images on the digital shelf wins search and drives conversion on the product page. Optimizing images for performance, at scale, is no longer an art, but now a science at the fingertips of digital marketers. Jehan Hamedi, founder and CEO of Visual Brand Performance platform provider Vizit, joined Peter and Rob to explain how brands are perfecting what your consumer sees. Listen Now

Interview: 100 Million Reasons to Use Walgreen’s Media Platform, with Luke Kigel, VP, Walgreens Media & Head of Walgreens Advertising Group

It seems like every week another retailer is announcing their new retail ad platform, and its both a challenge and opportunity for brands to reach their consumers in a more targeted and trustworthy way. Walgreens is bringing 100 million consumers to the fore with new tech and nimble ways, and Luke Kigel, VP, Walgreens Media & Head of Walgreens Advertising Group, joined Rob and me to talk about it and the rapidly evolving retail media landscape.

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Interview: Surfing the Wave of a Viral TikTok Sensation, with Trace Rutland, Digital Hub Director at Ocean Spray Cranberries

Every brand leader dreams of that truly authentic viral social media moment that will juice sales and transform the brand for a new audience. Turns out, if it happens, managing that fleeting moment is a tricky exercise, for which there are no rule books. Trace Rutland, Digital Hub Director at Ocean Spray Cranberries, was the leader in the hot seat when Nathan Apodaca, DoggFace208 on Linkedin, showed up on TikTok with a longboard, some Dreams, and a 64 ounce bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry. The rest of the story is now marketing legend, and we’ve got Trace here to talk about it.

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Interview: McCormick Shows Brands How to Make Every Moment Shoppable with James Seidl, Vice President Digital Commerce & Alt Channels

Join James Seidl, VP of digital commerce at McCormick, to learn how he built a powerful ecommerce organization while leading the transformation of its direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy. Explore McCormick's wins and lessons learned on this D2C journey, as well as Seidl’s actionable insights on how to build and execute a winning D2C strategy.

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Interview: How Brands Can Win on Instacart, with Kiri Masters, Founder of Bobsled Marketing

Online grocery will more than double to 21.5% of total U.S. grocery sales by 2025. A major outlet for that growth will likely be Instacart, and brand leaders need to fully understand the challenges, opportunities, and likely evolution of this platform to maximize revenue and minimize risk. Kiri Masters, founder of digital marketing agency Bobsled Marketing, is the co-author of a new book, Instacart for CMOs. Join host Peter Crosby of the Digital Shelf Institute for an interview with Kiri as she presents the key takeaways from her research.

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Interview: What It Means to Be a Brand Today, with Andrea Leigh, VP of Strategy & Insights at Ideoclick

With the onslaught of niche brands, the movement from mass market to the market of masses, and the impact of digital on omnichannel commerce, what it means to be a brand today is rapidly changing. Andrea Leigh, VP of Strategy at Ideoclick, joined Peter and Rob to discuss how brand leaders need to re-examine how brands are built and grown for the digital-first omnichannel shelf.

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Interview: Building Trust on the B2B Digital Shelf, with Sean Donovan, Digital Channel Manager for the Americas, MSA - The Safety Company

There’s a lot at stake when B2B industrial buyers shop for safety products. The data’s got to be right and these days, it’s got to be digital. Sean Donovan, Digital Channel Manager for the Americas at MSA- the Safety Company, sat down with Peter and B2B Whisperer Justin King to discuss his strategy for making sure every channel partner has the data they need to build the trust needed to buy.

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Interview: Orchestrating Brand Across the Full Spectrum of Commerce, with Edward Kim and Dan Saltzman of Ogilvy

From the hallowed halls of Ogilvy, where branding was born, comes a new set of thinking around how brand can and must be infused into every stage of the consumer commerce journey. Edward Kim, Managing Partner of the Commerce practice at Ogilvy and Dan Saltzman, their Vice President, Design + User Experience joined Rob and Peter to discuss how teams of misfits at global manufacturers are coming together to reinvigorate the role of brand in  commerce.

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Interview: The Evolution of the Grocery Shopper, with Peter V.S. Bond

Peter V.S. Bond, well-known as the co-host of the CPG Guys podcast, has a day job as VP Strategy & Retail Partnerships at PowerReviews. He put on that hat to share the results of a brand new survey of 4,000 consumers on the evolution of their omnichannel grocery shopping behaviors. Great data, with some powerful takeaways for brands. 

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Interview: Live Shopping on the Rise, With Maryam Ghahremani, CEO of Live Video Shopping Platform Provider Bambuser

If you heard there is a commerce experience driving conversion rates of 20-40% on average, wouldn’t you want in? That’s what many brands worldwide are seeing through their live video shopping experiments, and many are doubling down in 2021. Mary Ghahremani, CEO of live video shopping platform provider Bambuser, joined Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez to outline the strategies that are working and how brands can test and learn their way into this exciting new commerce experience opportunity.

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Interview: The Critical Role of Channel Optimization in Modern Commerce, with Don Brett Chief Digital Officer at NBG Home

There’s so much noise in ecommerce today, and filtering out that noise to find the meaningful signal to push your business forward can be hard to find. Don Brett, Chief Digital Officer, NBG Home, shows us how his playbook, refined over the years, can lead to modern commerce success.

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Deep Dive: Amazon Earnings and Takeaways with Melissa Burdick

Melissa Burdick, co-founder and President of advertising platform provider Pacvue, and overall ecommerce and Amazon whisperer, joins Rob and Peter to talk Amazon earnings and to read the tea leaves for brands as to what executive shifts, ad growth, and competitive forces might mean for business with the behemoth in 2021. 

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Interview: Turning Moments that Matter into a Competitive Advantage, with Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, creator of the Net Promoter System

The trend of brand manufacturers going direct to consumer has created more opportunities than ever for them to delight their consumers with moments that matter. That delight turns into consumer advocacy and loyalty, which drives margin and revenue. Fred Reichheld, creator of the loyalty practice at Bain & Company, and the legendary creator of the Net Promoter System, spoke with Peter Crosby about what it means to be a promoter-based business and the path to turning consumer delight into business success.

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Interview: Filling the Consumer Data Decision Gap, with Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, President at Lytics

In this D2C era, first-party consumer data is increasingly becoming a brands’ most valuable asset. The hard part is how to draw the line from that data to the right action in marketing, merchandising, and product innovation. Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, President at consumer data platform Lytics, joined Rob and Peter to outline now brands can fill the consumer data decision gap and turn your data lake into revenue and loyalty.

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Interview: A 21st Century House of Brands with 1.8 Billion to Spend, with Carlos Cashman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Thrasio

The digital upending of almost every dimension of commerce has created the opportunity for a new kind of P&G for the digital age, powered by the acquisition and constant performance optimization of thousands of small challenger Amazon marketplace brands. Thrasio is the leading example of this business model, and Carlos Cashman, Co-founder and Co-CEO sat down with Peter and Rob to discuss the innovations in branding, performance marketing, supply chain and most importantly, culture that are creating a 21st Century House of Brands.

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Interview: As The Cookie Crumbles, with Nishant Desai, Senior Director of Tech and Ad Ops at Xaxis, and Stu Richards, Lead Programmatic Strategist at Catalyst

2022. The Year the Cookie Dies. What’s a brand leader to do? Rob and Peter welcomed Nishant Desai, Senior Director of Tech and Ad Ops at Xaxis, and Stu Richards, Lead Programmatic Strategist at Catalyst to detail the actions brands can take this year to thrive in a cookieless world.

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Interview: TikTok Marketing Crash Course: How TikTok Can Help Your Brand Drive Billions of Views, With Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers+Shakers

On January 27th, Peter hosted a webinar entitled 'A Crash Course in TikTok Marketing', featuring Evan Horowitz, CEO, and co-founder of creative agency Movers+Shakers, who created the most successful marketing campaign on TikTok ever.

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Interview: Digital Innovation and Commerce in B2B, with Gireesh Sahukar, VP of Digital at Dawn Foods

In 2018, Dawn Foods, a 100 year old, family-owned bakery ingredient manufacturer, made the strategic decision to invest in delivering a best-in-class digital experience for its customers. Gireesh Sahukar, their VP of Digital, joined Justin King and Peter Crosby to lay out their ongoing journey to digital and commerce success.

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Interview: Rob Gonzalez Spitballs Commerce With the CPG Guys, Sri Rajagopalan and Peter V.S. Bond

Podcast cross-over event! Rob Gonzalez recently went deep on commerce in 2021 with the renowned Sri Rajagopalan and Peter V.S. Bond on their podcast CPG Guys. A rollicking survey of some of the biggest trends and opportunities in the year to come in commerce.

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Deep Dive: Epic Games Buys a Mall

Epic Games buying a 980,000 sq. ft. mall kicks off a deep dive into the Future of Malls. And, Rob and Peter argue about regulations. 

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Interview: Strategic Growth Opportunities for Manufacturers, with Phillip Jackson, Co-founder, Future Commerce

The rise of the digital-first omnichannel world has opened up some new strategic growth opportunities for brands. Rob and I recently pinned down Phillip Jackson, founder of FutureCommerce.fm and co-host of the Future Commerce podcast, to extract his POV on where brands should lean-in to grow top-line revenues in 2021 and beyond.

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Interview: Controlling Your Brand in the Age of Amazon, With James Thomson, Chief Strategy Officer at Buy Box Experts

The explosion of marketplaces is both opportunity and crisis for brands. There is an continuous danger of losing control of your brand, and only a multifaceted, ongoing effort will win the day. James Thomson, Chief Strategy Officer at Buy Box Experts and co-author of the new book “Controlling Your Brand in the Age of Amazon” outlines the three-pronged strategy for minimizing risk and maximizing success on the world’s biggest marketplaces.

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Roundtable: Reenergizing in a New Year

As we kick 2020 to the curb, it's a good time to take McKinsey's advice and make sure we are set up for a reenergized 2021. We will continue to live in interesting times, and Rob and Peter offer some perspectives on strategies to thrive in the New Year. 

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Roundtable: Rumor Mill: Amazon vs. Shopify

When the rumor mill starts humming that Amazon is contemplating a Shopify killer, it's time for Rob and Peter to talk D2C turkey. What would this deathmatch mean for brands? Should each stay in their lane? Tune in. 

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Roundtable: G-Commerce?

The videogame industry is the new television, and its combination of content, data, and communities will create unprecedented opportunities for brands to show up authentically to consumers. But it's going to take experimentation and lots of learning. Rob and Peter dive into the newest and perhaps most impactful channel of the next decade. 

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Roundtable: Is Thrasio the new P&G?

Amazon sellers worldwide sales grew by more than 60% Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Seller aggregator Thrasio now has absorbed more than 100 sellers, boosting their revenue to more than $400 million across more than 10K items. This is industry-changing. Rob and Peter talk it through. 

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Interview: Extracting Business Value from Data, with Julie Bernard, Global CMO/Board Member in Retail, Ad Tech, and Home Services

As more and more brands go direct, it is critical that they get the most value from their new data asset. Julie Bernard has spent a career making data speak truth to power at organizations like Macy’s, IAB, and Authority Brands. Peter Crosby sat down with Julie for an in-depth conversation of lessons learned, advice on pitfalls, and the mantras of leadership that drive change.

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Roundtable: What's a Brand Advertiser to Do?

Inspired once again by genius media and tech analyst Benedict Evans, Rob and Peter dig into the narrowing options for driving brand awareness as mass media continues its decline. Where can a brand unfurl its flag these days to reach the consumer? 

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Interview: The Great Brand Debate: Insource or Outsource?

The omnichannel marketing world is in a state of continual change — from new channels and the explosion of retailer ad platforms to shifting logistics and operational challenges. In this webinar recording, Peter joins ecomemrce leaders Melissa Burdick, John Denny, Macarena Herrera, and Jim Morgan, who will give you the tools for deciding between insourcing or outsourcing for your organization.

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Roundtable: How Much of the Consumer Experience Should You Own?

When the FT and Grocery Dive both wrote about the growth of Instacart and others, and the challenges of profitability, data ownership, and consumer relationship, it's time for Rob and Peter to talk about longer term strategy for brands. It's not just in grocery - over the next 5 years, who will own the consumer? 

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Roundtable: Ecommerce and Discovery in the Digital-First Omnichannel Age

The genius tech writer Benedict Evans wrote an article recently about the freight train of change that's barreling down the tracks at retail, brands, advertisers, and more. All worth digging into by Rob and Peter as we head towards 2021. 

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Interview: The Oprah-fication of Marketplaces, featuring Kiri Masters, founder of Bobsled Marketing

The explosion of marketplaces is causing both opportunities and challenges for brands, and it's not always easy to even which is which. Kiri Masters, a Forbes contributor and founder of digital marketing agency Bobsled Marketing, joined Rob and Peter to talk about this fast-moving commerce landscape and how to decide where to invest.

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Interview: What Amazon Earnings Foretell for the Holidays with Melissa Burdick

Prime Day is over. Amazon Q3 earnings are in. How should holiday and 2021 strategies pivot as a result? Rob and Peter talk to Melissa Burdick, co-founder of Pacvue and Amazon whisperer. 

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Roundtable: Figuring It Out on the Fly

Happy podiversary! As we hit our 1-year mark, Rob and Peter celebrate the moments and conversations in commerce that demonstrate the key trait of winners in this business: the ability to figure it out on the fly. The people and companies that inspired us over the last year and 72 episodes of Unpacking the Digital  Shelf. 

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Interview: Making Retail Safe for Discovery Again, with Gwen Morrison, former CEO of WPP's Global Retail Practice and a partner with Candezent Advisory

At a time when every step in the consumer journey must feel safe, retailers have an opportunity to revisit the power of technology and their people to signal safety while re-introducing moments of discovery to drive sales. Gwen Morrison, former CEO of WPP's Global Retail Practice and a partner with Candezent Advisory, brings her vast experience working on retail innovation to a new moment and a new challenge – but one she knows retail will conquer.

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Interview: Ecommerce Tech Stack History, 90s to now: a discussion with Dr. Adam Ferrari

Adam has a PhD in distributed computing from Cornell, was CTO of Endeca which powered the search and navigation for Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and hundreds of others in the 00s, and has 14 ecommerce technology patents to his name. Join us for this nerdy discussion of the history of the ecommerce tech stack from 1999 to now.

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Interview: New Omnicommerce Research, with Todd Szahun of Kantar and Kerry Curran of Catalyst and GroupM

The ecommerce and retail media landscape is shifting under our feet. Todd Szahun of Kantar and Kerry Curran of Catalyst and GroupM teamed up on a new foundational piece of research across both consumers and industry professionals. They join Rob and Peter to dig into the stats and takeaways that will inform marketing strategies in 2021.

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Roundtable: Pandemic-Inspired Store Designs

Walmart announced new store designs this week. Fast Company said "Walmart’s new store design proves browsing is dead. Get in and get out." Rob and Peter dig into a few of these new designs, and the takeaways for brands are different than you might think. 

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Roundtable: Since Everyone's Going Direct, Let's Get Better at It

When marketplace platform Mirakl gets $300m in funding, you know brands selling direct is no longer a fad. Inspired by a D2C trends report from Common Thread Collective, Rob and Peter dig into the omni-fication of D2C. 

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Interview: ROBOTS!! and how they will transform grocery shopping, with John Lert, Founder and CEO of Alert Innovation

For online grocery to be profitable and be a better experience, the costs and efficiency of pick and pack must come down. Turns out, the answer is...ROBOTS! John Lert, Founder and CEO of Alert Innovation, joins Rob ad Peter to discuss the automation of grocery stores at scale. 

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Roundtable: The New Model for Driving Growth

Turns out that the leading brands in each CPG category have generated only 25 percent of value growth in the US while small and medium-sized brands captured 45 percent of growth. McKinsey put out a report on what the new model for growth is, and the lessons can apply to any category.  Peter and Rob dig in. 

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Roundtable: Takeaways from McKinsey B2B Trend Data

Buying and selling behaviors have shifted dramatically in the B2B space. Justin King joins Peter on the podcast to dig into the survey data from McKinsey on US B2B decision-maker's response to the COVID-19 crisis and what he's seeing on the ground with manufacturers and distributors. 

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Interview: Creating Inclusive Products, with Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google’s Head of Product Inclusion

Today, the issues of diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of people’s minds, especially business leaders. For brands, it is more important than ever that inclusivity is built into your products throughout the entire process, from ideation to marketing and merchandising. Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google’s head of Product Inclusion, has literally just written THE book on why and how to build inclusive products. Peter spoke with Annie to dig into the principles and processes in her book, and how they apply to brand manufacturers, at a time when connecting deeply with each and every targeted consumer is vital to your brand success.

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Roundtable: The Nike Digital Road Map for Brands

Nike cut ties with some distributors this week. But that's one part of a digital-first strategy that has been years in the making. Rob and Peter unpack it all, and suggest lessons that brands building their digital road map can take away. 

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Interview: From the Front Lines of Ecommerce, with Tim Madigan, a veteran of CPG commerce innovation

Tim Madigan, with marketing and ecommerce leadership roles at P&G, SC Johnson, and Tyson Foods, has been at the leading edge of commerce innovation his entire career. Now he is putting those lessons to work in industries as diverse as frozen lobsters and cannabis. Rob and Peter connected with Tim to glean the lessons learned along the way.

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Roundtable: The Marketplace Explosion

Seems like these days, everyone is starting a marketplace. Does a brand choose to play or not? Rob and Peter discuss the onslaught of marketplaces and the need to prepare for an ever-increasing array of places to show and sell direct. 

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Roundtable: Amazon in Political and Legal Crosshairs

We had to talk politics this week, because politics, and the law, impacted commerce this week. Rob and Peter review a California Appeals court decision, FTC actions, and the tech hearings and talk through the likely path ahead. 

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Interview: Influencer Marketing at Scale, with Lyle Stevens, co-founder and CEO, Mavrck

Brands are now spending upwards of $15 billion a year to manage and activate their influencer marketing programs. It’s grown from a few celebrities posting a video to millions of micro-influencers driving impact throughout the sales funnel. Rob and Peter sat down with Lyle Stevens, co-founder, and CEO of Mavrck, an influencer marketing platform, to identify what shifts are required across teams and processes to manage and optimize the impact of influencer marketing on your business.

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Roundtable: Book Report - Leap, by Howard Yu

This episode, we launch a new occasional format for the 'pod. A report on books that we think are worthy of your attention, and why. Rob kicks it off with his POV on Leap, by Howard Yu.

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Roundtable: The Impact of AI

An article in Vogue Business by Maghan McDowell catapults your hosts into an analysis of current and future impacts of AI in shopping.

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Interview: Achieving profitability on Amazon with Mark Power, CEO and Founder of Podean

As the importance of Amazon as both a sales channel and marketing channels continues to rise, it is critical that brand executives focus on how to achieve profitability on the world’s largest retailer. Mark Power, founder and CEO of Podean Marketplace Marketing, joins Peter and Rob to talk about the need to invest in the analysis, data, and actions to make Amazon a profitable channel.

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Roundtable: The Future (?) of Malls

Can brands rely on malls as an engine of retail moving forward? Rob and Peter deep dive on current trends and scenarios.

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Roundtable: How Niches Destroy the Mass Market

Based on an article from business and tech analyst Ben Thompson, Rob and Peter explore how the arc of the newspaper industry holds lessons for how brands will need to adapt to masses of markets to win.

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Interview: Jason Goldberg on Creative Commerce in the time of COVID

Listen in on a conversation with one of the smartest people in commerce and a podcasting legend, at least to us at the DSI. Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis and co-host of the Jason and Scot show, joins Peter and Rob to talk what the heck is going on in commerce and posit brazen predictions of the future.

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Roundtable: Bankruptcies, with a silver lining

It was a week of bankruptcies, including a surprise bid at JC Penney by Simon Group. Peter and Rob deep dive on what innovation may result from these painful transformations.

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Interview: Creative Testing in Social Commerce, with Narain Jashanmal, Director of ECommerce Partnerships at Facebook

Consumers hate friction in their shopping journey. The new capability on Instagram and Facebook to checkout directly on the social platforms offers brands a perfect testing ground to develop new end-to-end experiences in social commerce. Narain Jashanmal, Director of ECommerce Partnerships at Facebook, joined Peter to discuss how brands can make the most of this opportunity to connect directly with their consumers from discovery to purchase to advocacy.

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Roundtable: Hooray for Creative Disruption!

It's definitely time to find the silver lining in the economic dark clouds. Rob and Peter put the week's news in perspective for the hopeful signs of the new digital age.

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Roundtable: Amazon's Supply Chain Patent - Conspiracy or Virtue?

When Amazon files a patent to capture every product's supply chain, conspiracy theories about and regulatory regimes rear their heads. Rob and Peter discuss.

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Interview: From Bricks to Clicks: How Brand Manufacturers Can Future-Proof Business With D2C

In the first ever LIVE episode, Brent Bellm, CEO of ecommerce platform BigCommerce, joins Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez to share the latest data and trends, long-term business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) strategies, and actionable D2C insights.

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Roundtable: Our Pandemic Buying Spree

Face it, it's been a tough week. So Rob, Peter, and production assistant Matt rattle off their favorite purchase experiences of the quarantime.

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Interview: Bringing Brand Purpose to Life in Digital Experiences, with Loic Moutalt, President of Royal Canin

During this time of quarantine, pets have become even more vital to many people's well being. Royal Canin, a petcare division of Mars, has designed products and product experiences that bring their purpose-driven mission to life. Loic Moutalt, President of Royal Canin, joins Molly Schonthal and Peter to discuss the path of their digital transformation and how they have brought these experiences to life in an agile way.

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Roundtable: The B2B Whisperer Returns

This week, Justin King returns with an analysis of the shifts in B2B at this time, and an urgent call to action for leaders to be ready as demand returns.

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Roundtable: Amazon? JC Penney? Wha?!

This week, Molly joins Peter to tackle the news and trends of the week, including Amazon's rumored purchase of JC Penney.

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Interview: How the Alcohol Beverage Industry Is Responding to the Surge in Demand from Digital Consumers, with Wayne Duan, VP of Ecommerce and Digital Commerce at Constellation Brands

One of the biggest growth categories during COVID-19 is alcohol beverages, and consumers are using digital platforms to get it. Wayne Duan, VP of Ecommerce and Digital Commerce at Constellation Brands joins Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez to discuss how the alcohol beverage industry is managing this rise in digital consumers, and what of these new trends may stick and apply across other categories.

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Roundtable: Snacking on DTC

This week, Rob and Peter weigh in on the Pepsico DTC launches of Snacks.com and PantryShop.com. Genius or folly? Plus, how much did those URLs cost?!?

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Roundtable: The Wile E. Coyote Effect

An outstanding Benedict Evans blog post inspires a conversation between Rob and Peter about whether retail will follow the print, camera, and RIM off a cliff. (https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2020/5/4/covid-and-cascading-collapses)

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Interview: The Lessons We Can Learn from Amazon on Building Winning Strategies and Culture with John Rossman

Peter Crosby and Justin King sit down with John Rossman, Managing Partner at Rossman Partners and former Amazon executive, to discuss what commerce leaders can learn from analyzing how Amazon builds its strategies and culture. We share takeaways from his book, Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas to Become a Digital Leader.

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Roundtable: The Questionable Morality of Amazon's Private-Label Business

The Wall Street Journal released an article this week with claims against Amazon for using Marketplace data to inform on their private-label business. Is what they're doing wrong? Rob Gonzalez gives his "rantifesto" on these accusations against the Amazon private-label business.

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Roundtable: Supply Chains and Regulators Getting Agile

Two of the most inflexible things in society are going rogue to respond to this moment. What will last? Rob and Peter talk supply chains and regulations, and it's way more interesting than you'd think.

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How Emerging Brands Survive - and Thrive - in a Downturn, with Karen Howland

Karen Howard, Managing Director of Circleup, an investment platform for early-stage consumer brands, shares data and insights on how emerging brands should think about surviving, and thriving, in the current environment.

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Roundtable: Why It Matters that Amazon Cut Affiliate Marketing

Amazon cut affiliate marketing rates this week. So what? Turns out, it is a wakeup call for brands about Amazon's market power. Rob and Peter unpack it all.

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Roundtable: Sure, They're Buying Online, But Do They LIKE It?

Big shifts happening in ecommerce. But they'll only last if the consumer likes them. Rob and Peter run through the shifts behind the stats.

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Roundtable: Tectonic Shifts or Snap Back?

There are some dramatic shifts happening right now in commerce. Are they likely permanent, or will they snap back? Peter and Rob highlight the major shifts and how digital pros can respond.

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Interview: Retailer Ad Platforms: Why, How, and Where to Invest with Russ Dieringer from Cleveland Research

Russ Dieringer, Executive Director of the Ecommerce Council at Cleveland Research, shares new research on how to evaluate and execute a strategy in the world of rapidly evolving retailer ad platforms.

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Roundtable: Keep Calm and Digitally Carry On

There is a necessity and an opportunity to lean into digital experiences in these times. Peter and Molly talk it through.

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Interview: Can you be both big and fast? with Angela Mangiapane, President, Mars Global Services at Mars

Angela Mangiapane, President, Mars Global Services at Mars on how to simplify, standardize, and automate to achieve both speed and scale.

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Roundtable: The Walmart Triple Play

Walmart had a very busy week of news, what with changes in merchandising teams, Walmart adds a +, and fulfillment news. Peter and Rob have it all for you.

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Interview: Reading the Amazon Tea Leaves, with Eamon Kelly, Senior Research Analyst in Consumer and Ecommerce for Edgewater Research

Eamon Kelly, Senior Research Analyst in Consumer and Ecommerce for Edgewater Research shares his view of what is driving Amazon’s strategy in 2020 and what that means for manufacturers.

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Roundtable: DTC Brands Find Out That Retail Is Hard, Meanwhile Kroger Has Big Week

It was a tough week for direct to consumer brands as grooming company Harry's had a major investment challenged by the FTC, and online consumer goods store Brandless shut down. Meanwhile, major retailer Kroger received a $550 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway. Peter and Rob break down what all of this means, and more.

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Interview: You Have Everything you Need to do Personalization at Scale, with Michelle Bacharach, co-founder and CEO of FINDMINE

Michelle Bacharach, co-founder and CEO of FINDMINE, outlines how brands can achieve personalization at scale through product expertise.

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Roundtable: B2C Geekout: L'Oreal Gets Personal

This week, Peter and B2C maven Molly Schonthal talk about L'Oreal's CES announcement, discovery in grocery, and China digital consumer journeys.

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Interview: Those Darn B2B Millennial Buyers and Their Questions with Steve Max, Director of Global Digital Commerce Strategy at TE Connectivity

Steve Max, Director of Global Digital Commerce Strategy at TE Connectivity, talks about how manufacturers must adapt to the new digital B2B buyer’s journey.

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Roundtable: The B2B Geekout Episode

This week, Peter and Justin King talk digital supply chains, new methods for managing payment terms, and...Legos?

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Roundtable: Will Casper ghost us?

This week, Peter and Rob do a deep dive on Casper's IPO filing and what it means for DTC. Plus, mockery of US states via their 2019 top Walmart purchases.

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Interview: How to be #1 with Mike Moumoutjis, General Manager, Goodbaby International

Winning in digital means picking your battles, building a test and learn strategy, and then scaling. Peter Crosby and Molly Schonthal spoke with Mike Moumoutjis, General Manager at Goodbaby International, to get real about what it takes to get closer to the consumer and become their first choice.

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Roundtable: Stores Close, but New Revenue and Margin Opportunities Ahead

This week, Peter and Rob dig into the 2019 store closing stats, and talk about some potential sources of new revenue and margin in 2020.

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Roundtable: How CPG Will Thrive in the Roaring 20s

This week, Peter talks with John Carroll, former VP/GM at Coca Cola, who shares his view on what CPGs must do to win in this new decade.

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Roundtable: 2020 B2B Dos, Don'ts, and Duds

In the first episode of this decade, Peter and Justin King tackle a list of dos and don'ts for B2Bs in 2020.

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Roundtable: Moncler Innovates, Coke Re-CMOs, Xeroxing Parts

In the ultimate episode of this decade, we discuss how Moncler and other brands drive innovation, the Coca Cola CMO returns and whether we will be Xeroxing parts in 2020.

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Interview: Test and Scale Social Commerce with Luke Garro, EVP and Content Director at GYK Antler

New commerce opportunities in social are popping up all the time. How do you test and scale these direct methods in an agile way? Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez spoke with Luke Garro, EVP and Content Director at marketing agency GYK Antler, about the best practices for brands to drive connection and commerce through social.

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Roundtable: Drunk Shopping, VC DTC, Andy is Dunn with Walmart

Tis' the season for drunk shopping and executive exits! Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez discuss drunk shopping economy, VC-fueled DTC brands, and Andy Dunn exiting Walmart.

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Interview: Driving Digital Shelf Excellence with JJ Schmidt, Global Product Manager at Mars

The ongoing journey to digital shelf excellence at global CPG brand Mars holds lessons for every business leader. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Molly Schonthal, JJ Schmidt, Global Product Manager at Mars details the organizational and technology transformation required to get agile and achieve results.

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Interview: Technology that Drives Outcomes with Suzanne Abate from The Development Factory

A true digital transformation partnership between business and IT must focus on products, not projects. Outcomes, not outputs. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Molly Schonthal, Suzanne Abate, owner of the Development Factory, describes how technology products can contribute to higher levels of connectedness, productivity, and profitability.

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Roundtable: Fake Reviews and Lord & Taylor Gets Bagged

Yes, somewhere there's a millennial in Brooklyn writing fake reviews by the truckload. Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez talk the dark underbelly of the reviews world plus Lord & Taylor getting snapped up by Le Tote.

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Roundtable: Giving Thanks at the DSI

From robots to the evolution of ERP, we drop some gratitude for what we think are some of the coolest, best, most significant events in digital commerce in the past year. Featuring host Peter Crosby, as well as all three of the founding members of the Institute: Rob Gonzalez, Molly Schonthal, and Justin King.

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Interview: Deciding to Win in CPG, with Sam Gagliardi, SVP of Ecommerce at IRI

Digitally native CPGs are scrappy and focused. Big CPGs have scale and presence. To win, you have to be both. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez of the Digital Shelf Institute, Sam Gagliardi, SVP of Ecommerce at IRI lays out the decision path to CPG success.

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Roundtable: Nike Divorces Amazon & Forrester Reads Its 2020 B2B Crystal Ball

Our weekly roundtable explores the most important news and trends in manufacturing, and we take on Nike calling it quits with Amazon and what it means for everyone else. Also, Forrester analysts Joe Cicman and Allen Bonde issued their 2020 Predictions for B2B Commerce, and the panel weighs in. Featuring Peter Crosby, Rob Gonzalez, and Justin King.

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Interview: First-Mover B2B Advantage, with Brian Beck, Author of ‘B2B Billion Dollar Ecommerce’

For B2B manufacturers, there is still a huge first-mover advantage available in ecommerce channels. Brian Beck, the author of B2B Billion Dollar Commerce, joins the podcast to outline the strategies to show up and stand out on the digital shelf.

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Roundtable: Can IDs and Blockchain Stop Counterfeiting?

Our weekly roundtable explores the most important news and trends in manufacturing, and we investigate counterfeiting and winter sports entering the B2B ecommerce world in our latest episode. Learn more about Ralph Lauren’s plans to authenticate merchandise with IDs, find out why the blockchain dress exists, and learn how one company will let you trace your sweater back to the exact sheep it came from. Featuring Rob Gonzalez, Molly Schonthal, and Justin King.

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Roundtable: The Halloween Episode – What's Scary in Manufacturing?

On our weekly roundtable of what's happening in manufacturing, we're talking Halloween — or at least what's scary in manufacturing these days. Turns out, it's trade wars and industry-killing millennials. Featuring host Peter Crosby, Rob Gonzalez, and Molly Schonthal.

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Interview: Marketing Silos Must Fall: Interview With Sonesh Shah, VP of Marketing and Digital at Bosch Power Tools

To win on the digital shelf, brand and digital marketing can no longer be telling different stories — or chasing different outcomes. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez of The Digital Shelf Institute, Sonesh Shah, vice president of marketing and digital at Bosch Power Tools explains how he merged these functions for better customer experiences and better results.

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Introducing: Unpacking the Digital Shelf

Unpacking the Digital shelf is the only podcast created for manufacturers strategizing to win in the digital age. In this episode, we introduce you to a sample of the conversations you can expect in the episodes to come. Listen in!

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Roundtable: What Manufacturer Execs are Telling Us

Molly Schonthal, who leads the DSI's Executive Forum, joins Peter to share the hot takes from her recent conversations with brand manufacturer leaders.

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Roundtable: Manufacturers Lead the Way

It's been a week of watching manufacturers get agile to respond to these times. What of these innovations will last? Peter and Rob share the inspirations and implications of these responses.

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