Albertsons Media Collective vs Instacart

Retail Media Networks: Growth Levers Beyond Trade Dollars

In a panel at ADWEEK House Advertising HQ co-hosted with Albertsons, Julian Mintz, VP of ad sales at Albertsons Media Collective, and Dani Mariano, CEO of Razorfish, discussed the evolving role of retail media networks (RMNs) in the marketing mix. Mintz emphasized the need for closer alignment between media and merchandise teams to avoid scenarios where campaigns promote out-of-stock products. Mariano reframed retail media not as an additional cost but as an opportunity to round out compressed budgets, while Mintz described retail media dollars as a 'growth lever.' They highlighted the power of leveraging retail data—even for non-endemic brands—by combining it with other consumer insights to build a robust customer picture. The panel underscored that success is ultimately measured by driving brand sales and demonstrating tangible business impact.

• Albertsons Media Collective's VP of ad sales, Julian Mintz, and Razorfish CEO Dani Mariano participated in a panel on retail media.
• Mintz cited an example where a campaign promoted an out-of-stock product due to lack of communication between media and merchant teams.
• Mariano said retail media dollars should not be seen as trade dollars but as an opportunity to round out compressed budgets.

Albertsons Retail Media Head Departs

Brian Monahan has left Albertsons Media Collective, the grocery chain's retail media network, after just over a year as senior vice president. The unit will now report to CMO Emily Turner, who in turn reports to EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer Michelle Larson. An Albertsons spokesperson confirmed the departure, noting that business partners were informed. Monahan, who joined from Dentsu where he led retail media solutions, and previously led retail vertical strategy at Pinterest, was unexpectedly scheduled to speak at industry events that week. Under his leadership, Albertsons launched an incremental multi-touch attribution measurement solution and a scripted branded entertainment offering. Agency executives suggest the move reflects slower-than-expected growth of the network, though client ad spend is not expected to be affected. Albertsons' digital sales grew 13% in Q1 fiscal 2026, but identical sales declined 0.8%. The company did not disclose if the position will be filled.

• Brian Monahan, senior VP of Albertsons Media Collective, has left the company effective immediately.
• Albertsons Media Collective now reports to CMO Emily Turner, who reports to EVP Michelle Larson.
• Monahan joined Albertsons in July 2025 from Dentsu and previously led retail vertical strategy at Pinterest.

Big Y Foods and Instacart Launch In-Store Foodservice Kiosks and Online Catering Ordering

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Gopuff hands onsite adtech to Instacart in retail media alliance

Gopuff, the convenience delivery app, has partnered with competitor Instacart to run its onsite advertising capabilities via Instacart's white-label Carrot Ads technology. The deal, announced in September, also includes Gopuff joining the Instacart Marketplace for rapid delivery in as fast as 15 minutes. Gopuff's head of ads, Michael Peroutka, explains the rationale: leveraging Instacart's demand generation (over 9,000 brand advertisers and a 300-person sales team) to establish a revenue floor while freeing Gopuff's team to focus on bespoke, experiential campaigns that leverage its youth-skewing audience (80% aged 18-34) and vertical integration. The partnership highlights a trend of alliances between competing retailers in retail media. Peroutka emphasizes a shared metric of total contribution profit and 'cubic profitability' as a north star, and criticizes vanity metrics like ROI and ROAS, focusing on moving product.

• Gopuff partnered with Instacart to run its onsite ad capabilities via Carrot Ads, announced in September 2026.
• Gopuff joins the Instacart Marketplace, fulfilling orders from its own warehouses in as fast as 15 minutes.
• Gopuff launched its own ad platform three years ago, but has now outsourced the technology to Instacart.

Skip and Instacart Join Forces, Providing Canadians With More Stores, More Stuff, and More to Skip

New partnership brings Instacart’s grocery and retail marketplace to Skip, while Skip’s 50,000+ national and local restaurant partners become available to Instacart customers.