B2B marketing often gets dismissed as dry or overly technical. But in reality, it’s one of the most human forms of marketing because it’s rooted in relationships, trust, and long-term value. Over the course of my career, I’ve learned that the strategies that endure, the ones that truly break through, share a few timeless qualities.

Today, focusing on the retail media industry as a CMO at Pentaleap, I find myself reflecting on the three pillars that have guided me as a leader and continue to inform my perspective on this evolving space.

I believe these are the foundation of marketing that lasts — and if you’ve ever met me or worked with me, you know I’m extremely passionate about them.

Pillar 1: Creativity Loves Constraints

One of the most important lessons of my career came not from abundance, but from constraint. Like many marketers, I’ve led campaigns where budgets were tight and resources limited. Instead of seeing those restrictions as setbacks, I learned to treat them as creative prompts.

Constraints and limitations push us to sharpen ideas and prioritize what really matters. Some of my favorite campaigns were the simplest: a relatable meme, a culturally relevant moment, or humor that struck a chord with our audience. Those small but powerful ideas did more to connect than polished, high-cost production ever could.

In retail media, the scarcest resource isn’t ad inventory or budget, it’s shopper attention. Every network is competing for the same few seconds of focus, and as automation grows, the risk is that they all start to look interchangeable.

That’s where marketers inside retail media networks have to get creative. Your job isn’t just to sell impressions, it’s to position your network as the one that brands need to work with. Creativity here means:

●      Showing not just reach, but unique shopper behaviors, contexts, and purchase moments.

●      Designing a compelling narrative for why your network matters

●      Turning data into stories: helping brands see how your network can capture attention more effectively than competitors.

Treating attention as the scarce currency and positioning your network as the one that makes the most of it is a creative way to cut through sameness and tell a story brands can’t ignore.

Takeaway: Attention is scarce. Use that constraint to get creative and stand out.

Pillar 2: But What About the Buyer?

CMOs and marketers are often seen as experts in the shiny objects: campaigns, branding, or messaging, but not in the actual product or industry. That perception sometimes can be right, but it hurts performance, because without deep knowledge of what you’re marketing, it’s impossible to build strategies that truly last.

At Pentaleap, my team and I make “knowing the buyer’s needs” a priority. We use data to ground our decisions: pulling insights, building reports, and analyzing patterns. By doing that work, we not only have a beautiful report that we launch twice a year, but also uncover the context in which our customers operate.

From there, we connect the dots to the buyer journey. Talking directly to customers and prospects, documenting their needs, and mapping the “why” behind their decisions turns marketing into something more than a megaphone: it becomes a dialogue, rooted in empathy and evidence.

In retail media, this principle is especially critical. Without understanding the retailer ecosystem, the shopper mindset, and the brand’s true value, campaigns risk becoming interchangeable. But when you combine data with human understanding, insight with empathy, marketing becomes not just effective, but transformative.

Takeaway: Asking the buyer question forces us to go deeper than features or reach. It’s how marketers turn data into insight, insight into relevance, and relevance into impact.

Pillar 3: Building Community and Networks

The third pillar is the one I’m most passionate about: community.

When people feel part of something larger, their engagement deepens and their loyalty strengthens. That’s why my involvement as a Co-founder in the Women in Retail Media Collective (WRMC) is so meaningful to me. Being part of this community has reminded me that no leader succeeds alone. The ideas, support, and collaboration I’ve seen there reinforce my belief that industries move faster when people work together rather than compete in silos.

For retail media, the lesson is clear. The brands that rise will be the ones that create spaces where customers, partners, and peers feel connected, supported, and empowered.

Takeaway: Community isn’t a tactic, it’s the foundation for meaningful relationships that bring sustainable growth in the next era of marketing.

Looking Ahead

My career in B2B has been defined by lessons learned under pressure, in partnership with customers, and alongside communities. Those lessons are the framework I use to lead.

As retail media and the ad tech space mature, especially with the growing influence of AI, these pillars will matter more than ever. Budgets will fluctuate, but creativity will always find a way. Industries will evolve, but marketers who listen and learn will always stay relevant. And while tools and platforms will come and go, community will remain the strongest engine of growth we have.