Future of Retail & Commerce

Thursday, September 24

• 10:30 AM Registration
• 11:20 AM Opening Remarks

  Brandon Gutman, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Brand Innovators

  Marc Sternberg, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Brand Innovators

  Vito Maranzano, Vice President, Content & Community – Retail, Brand Innovators

• 11:30 AM The Third Place: Gen Z, Real-World Connection and What It Means for Brands

  The mall has always been a third place — somewhere to explore, connect and make memories. What has changed is the intensity of the appetite. A generation raised online is actively choosing real-world discovery and genuine human connection, and it is not only Gen Z: the pull runs across parents and grandparents too. Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today have all covered the story this year, and it is visible in the traffic data. This session digs into what is fueling it, how durable it is, and what brands should do with it — then goes behind the strategy of Simon’s new brand platform, launched the week prior, with the team that built it and an independent perspective on the culture it taps.

  Christa Dabkowski, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Simon Property Group

  Moderated by: Nicole Guess, Managing Director, Perion

• 12:00 PM Activating IRL: How Brands Launch, Engage and Connect

  Physical space has become one of the most effective platforms in brand marketing — a place to launch products, activate campaigns and create moments consumers can’t get anywhere else. This conversation looks at how brands are combining experiential activations, on-site media, creator partnerships and live events to reach consumers in person and drive measurable results. Each panelist brings one activation with a number attached: what they ran, what it cost, what it returned.

  Lauren Flanigan, Head of Global Brands, Refreshment Categories, Mondelēz International

  Ali Ghosh, Vice President Marketing – Brand Strategy, Advertising & Menu, Marketing, Zaxby’s

  Justin Keys, Associate Director, Digital Vet Channel Marketing, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc.

  Kevin Reardon, Creative Director, (RED)

  Moderated by: Karlyn Smith, Vice President, Ad Sales, Captivate

• 12:30 PM Building With Innovation: How Ace Hardware is Using Partnerships to Change the Retail Media Game

  Ace Hardware wants to reach their customers wherever they are. From partnerships with DoorDash to content creation through influencers, Ace Hardware is expanding their reach into the digital world. This innovative channel strategy allows new ways for their customers to interact with them and their slew of product partners in intentional and practical ways. The result? Millions in incremental revenue and an expanded demographic, including younger shoppers.

  Molly Hjelm, Vice President, Head of Retail Media, Ace Hardware

  Moderated by: Mike Pollack, Managing Director, Digital Media Solutions, Epsilon

• 1:00 PM Lunch
• 2:00 PM Beyond the Purchase: Designing Lifetime Customer Value

  The transaction is no longer the finish line—it’s the beginning of the relationship. This discussion explores how brands are designing post-purchase experiences through personalization, clienteling, loyalty, service, community, and customer care to increase retention and lifetime value.

  Cynthia Lee, Senior Director, Media, Holland America Line

  Moderated by: Jason Kobs, Account Executive, Listen Labs 

• 2:30 PM Community Is the New Competitive Advantage

  The brands creating the strongest emotional connections aren’t simply selling products—they’re building communities. This conversation explores how brands are cultivating belonging through membership, creators, events, experiential retail, partnerships, and shared purpose to strengthen long-term customer relationships.

  Rebecca Bahmani, Founder/CEO, Prelove You

  Cyone Batiste, Senior Director, Corporate Partnerships, Atlanta Dream

  Aubrie Corey, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing, Carter’s 

   

• 3:00 PM Commerce Without Channels

  Customers don’t distinguish between ecommerce, marketplaces, social commerce, mobile apps, or stores—they simply expect brands to be wherever inspiration strikes. This discussion explores how organizations are designing commerce strategies that remove barriers between channels while delivering consistent experiences everywhere consumers engage.

  Brett Bolin, Vice President, Creative and Content, Floor and Decor

  Shermika Dunner, Innovation Leader, Brand and Insight, Kimberly-Clark

  Hillary Settle, Vice President of Marketing, Hanni

  Moderated by: Jennifer Piña, Co-Founder & VP of Brand Strategy & Revenue, MagicLinks

• 3:30 PM Networking Break
• 4:00 PM The New Loyalty Playbook

  The most effective loyalty programs no longer just reward purchases — they build relationships. This session looks at how brands are rethinking loyalty through personalization, tiered access, community perks and emotional engagement, with particular attention to a harder problem: what loyalty looks like when you don’t own the transaction, and you’re building it across partners, franchisees, trade customers and marketplaces.

  Alex Brown, Director, Brand Strategy and Consumer Insights, The Honey Baked Ham Company, LLC

  Aaron Glick, Vice President, Loyalty and Omni Channel Marketing,  Simon Property Group

  Moderated by: Adam Roberts, Senior Vice President of Sales, Simpli.fi.

• 4:30 PM Fireside Chat

  Marshall Weiss, Senior Director, Category and Enterprise Marketing, Home Depot

  Moderated by: Evie Cashen, Account Director, Viant

• 5:00 PM Retail Media: Measurement, In-Store and Where the Budget Goes

  Retail media is among the fastest-growing categories in marketing, but the hard part is no longer buying it — it’s measuring it, particularly as budgets move from purely digital placements toward in-person, on-property media. This conversation covers how brand marketers are allocating across networks, what they can and can’t prove about ROI, and how the measurement problem gets solved.

  Brandi S. Watkins, Senior Director, Media & Demand Generation, Carter’s

  Moderated by: Scott Foernsler, Vice President of Business Development, Epsilon

• 5:30 PM Wrap