L to R: Debra Berman; Jack Byrne, co-founder and chief operating officer, Zitcha; Troy Townsend; and Jonathan Waecker.
Unified retail media platform Zitcha has appointed Debra Berman and Jonathan Waecker to senior advisory positions.
Berman is a former chief marketing officer for Yahoo and JCPenney. She also led account planning for Kraft Foods, focusing on brand planning across the global portfolio and has held roles in advertising, brand strategy and management consulting.
Waecker has nearly two decades of global marketing and retail experience, holding senior marketing and global executive roles at Yahoo, The Walt Disney Company, Zynga and most recently at The Warehouse Group, New Zealand’s largest retail group, where he was chief customer and sales officer and launched the group’s retail media network, Market Media.
Zitcha CEO Troy Townsend said the duo's combined expertise across global retail, media, and technology will be invaluable as the company continues to address the evolving needs of retailers, including joint business planning and team integration, to rapidly scale its presence in the US and beyond.
“Debra’s strategic insights and transformational leadership in retail marketing, along with Jonathan’s proven ability to build successful retail media networks, will provide critical guidance as we continue to evolve our platform," he said.
"Their experience will help ensure that Zitcha, which is built for retailers first, delivers exceptional value and enables them to connect their trade and marketing efforts to drive real results.”
Berman said joining the Zitcha team in an senior advisory capacity comes as retail media networks in the US, which have traditionally been focused on eCommerce, want to broaden their omnichannel offering.
"I’ve seen firsthand how critical it is to have a unified platform that bridges marketing and retail operations and Zitcha’s vision to create a solution aligns with the future direction of retail media," she said.
"I look forward to working alongside Troy and the growing US team to leverage my experience and help guide the business through this competitive landscape.”
Waecker said having worked alongside Zitcha for the launch of the Market Media retail media network, he has seen firsthand the results the platform delivers for retailers across all categories.
"I couldn’t be more excited to bring my global passion and expertise across retail, marketing, and retail media together to support Troy and the entire Zitcha team as they push into their next phase of growth," he said.
Zitcha, which was developed as a retailer-first tech platform, recently announced A$15 million (US$10 million) in Series A funding, led by US investment firm VMG Partners, to accelerate growth in the North American retail media market.
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