Marc Lomas will lead GroupM’s retail media arm as ad spend in the sector soars.
GroupM has appointed one of the industry’s top retail media executives to lead its commerce and retail media business in Australia and New Zealand.
Marc Lomas, who joins as managing director of commerce, spent seven years at Amazon Ads, most recently as the agency sales lead in Australia and previously as its global head of services for its demand side platform (DSP). He has previously held senior roles at IPG Mediabrands programmatic arm Cadreon and UM.
Lomas will be charged with leading and growing GroupM ANZ’s push into retail media, a booming sector of advertising that accounts for US$120 billion in investment globally and is forecast to grow in Australia by 20 per cent to A$1 billion this year.
Although Amazon Ads accounts for the lion share of retail media spend, large retailers including Woolworths, Coles and David Jones are investing heavily into their retail media offering, and media agencies and owners have been growing their retail media capabilities for several years.
Amazon Ads in Australia is led by former Mediacom ANZ CEO William Pang.
Lomas will join the GroupM executive committee, reporting to CEO Aimee Buchanan, and working with the teams in EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker, and GroupM’s performance business Nexus and data consulting arm Acceleration.
“Commerce is a massive growth area and key strategic area of focus for us. We are investing in building out this critical specialist capability to support our clients on their commerce ambitions and navigate the rapidly evolving landscape,” Buchanan said.
“Marc is an incredible talent in this space, with unmatched global and local expertise. He brings a unique blend of agency and platform experience that will enable us to elevate our strategic capability, whilst also connecting into the vitally important media ecosystem.”
Lomas added: “I’m thrilled to join GroupM to continue and expand its Commerce capabilities. The evolving landscape of commerce and retail media demands constant innovation, and GroupM’s dedication to this evolution is truly impressive.
“I’m excited to build upon the team’s strong foundation and deliver transformative solutions that help our clients navigate a rapidly changing landscape and shape the next era of media and commerce.”
