SMG’s US move: in-store retail media and AI that plans campaigns

Why in-store is the next US battleground

“We’ve got embedded teams with our retailers in the UK,” LeFeuvre says, noting a significant team with Boots in Nottingham and others sitting with Morrisons in Bradford. “In the US, the in-store opportunity is huge. It has been left alone because it’s fragmented and hard. That’s where we can help.”

SMG’s pitch brings UK learnings on fixtures, formats and measurement, then adapts for US realities. Planning starts from the shelf back. “What does the customer expect to see on the shelf? They’re not after a brand manifesto. They want to know why they should buy and where.” Away from the store, the message shifts to “engagement and excitement.”

Retail media, he insists, “isn’t just lower funnel, it’s a powerful brand-building tool when you match message to moment.” Competition in the space is exploding, but LeFeuvre believes only networks that can “measure what they do, create value for brands and use retailer data responsibly” will last.

What AI actually changes at SMG

Inside SMG, AI is already altering how teams plan, build and evaluate campaigns. “We’ve got a young organization of 500 colleagues and the uptake has been brilliant,” he says. “We use AI where people aren’t required. So much process, planning and evaluation can now be handled by the tech. We’re freeing people to focus on what humans do best.”

The company’s proprietary platform, Plan Apps, has become the center of that effort. “We’ve applied AI directly into the campaign-planning and evaluation process so brands can access performance data faster than before,” he explains. “It has already cut the hours teams used to spend hand-cranking spreadsheets.”

Next up is Smart Planning, a feature that builds a plan in real-time and forecasts likely ROI. “Everyone wants better return on investment. Budgets are under pressure everywhere and proving worth is always top of mind.”

He’s equally candid about risk. “We’re wrestling with responsibility, protecting IP and data, and that’s why we control everything through Plan Apps. We’ll buy off the shelf when it’s smarter, because our goal is a confident, bulletproof system for commerce media.”

How SMG works with brands and retailers

SMG’s structure mirrors the two sides of retail media. “We have customer-focused teams, who work with brands on briefs and objectives, and campaign teams, who sit inside the retailer to make sure delivery matches the plan,” LeFeuvre says. “That integration with our retail partners has been one of our biggest keys to success.”

He points to two examples that show how it works.

• Nestlé × WH Smith (US airports): “We ran an experiential campaign at LaGuardia that targeted travelers both off-site and in-store. It drove the excitement and sales lift you’d expect but also proved that when you blend experience with commerce expertise, you get real results.”
• Estée Lauder × Boots (UK): “Instead of running global creative everywhere, Estée Lauder empowered Boots to craft a message in the retailer’s own voice. It felt authentic, it used data responsibly, and it beat performance expectations. That’s how brands and retailers should work, hand in glove.”

LeFeuvre says retail media has moved from “convincing people to talk about it bottom-up” to now being “a boardroom conversation with CMOs and CEOs.” SMG’s global center of excellence shares what works across markets but never copies and pastes. “The theory of retail media is consistent. What good looks like doesn’t change. The context does.”

Privacy and regulation keep that consistency honest. Years of UK data rules have, in his words, “hard-wired responsibility into our DNA.” SMG’s white paper on first-party data and its LiveRamp partnership, he says, are proof that “you protect customer data like the crown jewels and stay ahead of policy, not behind it.”

Looking ahead, LeFeuvre’s focus is on turning all that learning into US momentum. “It excites me that we can lift our experience from the UK and adapt it for how success looks here. Fail fast, but with care. Those who move early and learn quickly will see the value first.”