Australian omnichannel retail media platform, Zitcha is continuing its international expansion, launching operations in Europe with an office in London and appointing Darren Jacobs and Dan Sands as EMEA sales directors.
Zitcha’s retail media platform brings together onsite, offsite and in-store assets, and already empowers retailers across seven countries including Coles Group (Australia), The Warehouse Group (New Zealand) Peavey Mart (Canada) and Axonet (US), as well as global brands including Unilever, Fisher & Paykel and Microsoft.
The European retail media market is maturing quickly as retailers and brands look for omnichannel solutions to unify existing offerings and streamline operations. In Western Europe, retail media is expected to peak in the UK where eMarketer predicts ad spend is set to almost double from US$4 billion in 2024 to US$7.91 billion by 2027.
Zitcha CEO, Troy Townsend said, “We’ve had a lot of conversations with major players in the UK/EMEA market for the past six to 12 months and see it as mature and innovative with a cast of great retail media networks. We already have partners and runs on the board in the UK and I believe growth for our solution, and its ability to scale brand and retail businesses, is compelling.
“We’re excited to already be working with leaders in this space and welcome the wealth of experience both Darren and Dan bring. Their knowledge will be exceptional in helping set the tone and culture for Zitcha in the UK. Expect more in the near future with Europe as a critical region.”
Sands has been at the forefront of retail media as EMEA sales director for CitrusAds, where he worked with retailers to create a unified retail media offering. Joining Zitcha with over a decade working in retail, Sands supports brands and retailers to optimise how they engage shoppers. Most recently, he was the EMEA director of retail partnerships at Firework, and prior to that he held multiple leadership positions at Nielsen Brandbank, to create, manage, measure and optimise product content.
“Offering the full gamut of omnichannel features, Zitcha helps retailers in a way which no other retail media platform can. From retail media networks, joint business planning into the actual delivery of assets we cover everything across in-store, onsite and offsite,” Sands said.
“Zitcha can support retailers with no retail media network who need an expert to guide and consult on best practice. It’s the channel with the most excitement around it right now, and we’ll be here for all European retailers and brands to build on those expectations within the sector.”
Jacobs spent two decades honing his sales craft across multiple markets including the UK, Singapore and Australia working for Dennis Publishing, Yahoo, iClick, Nugit and Shuttlerock. The latter three were global sales leadership roles with a focus on go-to-market and building teams in multiple markets. In this time, he’s worked with major media agency networks, plus directly with global brands and partners.
“Zitcha is genuinely a one-stop-platform for brands and retailers. Retail media provides so much opportunity and is the fastest growing advertising sector. It’s grown rapidly and with Zitcha’s European arrival, that’s only set to act as a further catalyst for maturation as retailers can harness the platform’s power across markets and buy retail media across multiple retail media networks on a single platform,” Jacobs said.