It has been a huge 12 months for Sarah Minassian, head of operations for LocalEyes Retail Media at Metcash. She has spearheaded the roll-out of the Metcash Digital Screen Network, a first-of-its-kind in-store digital advertising platform spanning IGA, Mitre10, Total Tools, Cellarbrations, Thirsty Camel and Bottle-O and now she’s taken home the B&T Women In Media Innovator award.
Speaking moments after being handed the trophy, Minassian admitted the recognition caught her by surprise.
“Thank you. It was completely unexpected. I’m still shaking from actually winning it. I didn’t expect it, and I’m so incredibly honoured,” she said.
The project has transformed the way Metcash’s 6,500 independent retailers approach advertising, moving from print point-of-sale to a scalable, national retail media network. As of May, 133 screens are live, with 750 planned across the group by FY26. The initiative has already delivered a surge in retail media revenue.
Minassian was quick to highlight the scale of the transformation and the collaborative effort behind it.
“So it’s not just a digital screen network, it’s our retail Media Network, which is called localised retail media. It’s been an absolute labour of love that we’ve had with Metcash. We’re a huge organisation, and this is the first enterprise-wide project that we’ve done. We’ve got screens across our food, liquor and hardware businesses, and it’s a national network now,” she explained.
She also offered a simple but powerful message for other women looking to innovate. “Just do it. Just try, speak to other people that you think can help you with what you need to do, and just go for it”.
