From Amazon Evangelist to the Omnichannel Future of Retail Media - Jeff Cohen, Skai

Jeff Cohen, former Amazon Ads evangelist and now Chief Business Officer at Skai, joins The Middlemen Podcast to unpack how retail media evolved — and where it’s headed next. Recorded live at Groceryshop 2025, Jeff walks Tom and Todd through his journey from third-party ad tech founder to Amazon’s global evangelist — and now to Skai, where he’s helping brands navigate the next chapter of omnichannel media. From building Amazon’s ad ecosystem and coining “TACoS” to navigating the fragmentation of hundreds of RMNs, Jeff shares how AI, omnichannel measurement, and new standards could unlock the next wave of growth beyond Amazon and Walmart. Along the way, the trio dives into what made Amazon ads take off, how challenger brands like Poppi built categories from scratch, and why tools like Skai are key to reducing friction as retail media expands from 15% to 50% of total ad spend — powered by smarter orchestration and cross-retailer standardization. Key discussion points: * How Amazon’s ad business scaled through simplicity and third-party tooling * The rise of “halo effects” across DTC and in-store from Amazon ad exposure * Why challenger brands like Poppi built new categories on Amazon * How AI can decide where to spend, not just how much * The missing standardization for categories and taxonomy across RMNs * The role of clean data and enterprise tools in making omnichannel measurement work * The human + AI partnership in execution and ideation * Why in-store remains a critical part of the omnichannel loop Find Jeff Cohen on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreycohen/ Chapters 00:00 – Introduction – Tom & Todd set up Jeff Cohen’s background and why his story matters 02:34 – Jeff’s move from Amazon to Skai – what drew him to the omnichannel opportunity 03:27 – The challenge of fragmentation and the 15% → 50% shift in retail media 06:03 – Jeff’s journey at Amazon: from third-party ad tech to global evangelist 09:20 – How Amazon built retail media through simplicity (“search, find, buy”) 18:19 – The Omnichannel Halo: measuring incrementality across DTC and in-store 22:34 – The 15% problem: unlocking non-Amazon retail media spend 23:30 – Category creation on Amazon and why reviews + search mattered 26:05 – The “AI unlock” — how intelligence and tools reduce buying friction 28:50 – The standards gap — categories, taxonomies, and IAB’s role 30:27 – Data signals and retailer APIs — the path to smarter optimization 34:06 – Why in-store data still matters and how Skai connects online and offline 35:37 – Investing in enterprise tools — clean data in, clean data out 37:36 – AI in execution vs ideation — where human judgment still wins 39:40 – Closing reflections – the next wave of retail media and career advice