The Remarkable Rise of Retail Media with Melanie Brown, VP of Home Depot's Orange Apron Media + Monetization

Joining us for the second of three episodes recorded in the Bambuser remote podcast studio/beach cabana at Mandalay Bay during Shoptalk is Melanie Brown Vice President of Orange Apron Media and Monetization for The Home Depot. In a special two segment interview Melanie unpacks The Home Depot's retail media journey, highlighting the company's unique approach, which recently culminated in a doubling down and re-branding of its efforts. We've had analysts and consultants on to explore the rapidly growing retail media world, now we get a deeply experienced practitioner's in-depth perspectives.

As usual we open by dissecting the most important news of the week including the key take-aways from Amazon CEO Andy Jassey's annual shareholder letter, the end to Macy's proxy fight, the big nothing burger that is JC Penney's first new store in eight years, and Richard Baker's return trip to Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Then we tap into Steve's 2024 predictions of a "disruptor reckoning" and news that Rent the Runway sees better days ahead, while Allbird's risks delisting and Billy Reid acquires Knot Standard.

Orange Apron Media

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Don't miss the Leaders Leap virtual launch event on Monday, April 22nd, featuring special guests Seth Godin, Bridget Brennan, Sally Elliott, and Hal Lawton. Pre-register here.

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And if you are in Dallas don't miss our in-person live fireside chat, networking, and book signing on April 24. Pre-register here.

About Melanie

Melanie Babcock is the Vice President, Orange Apron Media and Monetization. In this role, Melanie has grown sources of ad revenue, profitability, sales and improved supplier experience.

Melanie joined The Home Depot in 2013, most recently serving as the VP of Integrated Media, which included the launch, development and growth of Retail Media+. Under Melanie’s leadership, her teams transformed The Home Depot’s marketing strategy from a product-centric to a customer-driven marketing strategy.

She scaled personalized customer marketing and worked closely with cross-functional partners to lead the development of marketing experiences more tailored to customers’ shopping and personal preferences. She launched a media measurement practice and changed the marketing team’s key metrics to deliver enterprise, department and incremental sales.

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2026 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.