Retail MediaX honours Europe's top campaign winners
Tue, 19th May 2026 (Yesterday)
The Retail MediaX Awards announced the winners of its 2026 programme at a ceremony in London, recognising companies, teams and individuals in retail media across Europe.
Headline winners included CVS Media Exchange, which took Retail Media Network of the Year, and John Lewis x Shark Beauty, which won Full Funnel Campaign of the Year. Co-op Media Network & SMG won Effective Use of Retail Media, while Kenshoo Skai took Retail Media Technology Solution of the Year.
Other winners included DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions for Retail Media Team of the Year; Sam Mills, associate director at Publicis Media, for Rising Star; and Christian Raveaux, director of Retail Media Connect at REWE Group, for Retail Media Person of the Year. Kina Demirel, chief executive of Mimeda, won Women in Retail Media, while Omnicom for Philips won Best Use of Insights and Data and Very Media Group & SMG won Creative in Retail Media.
The awards were presented at Horizon 22 after a day of discussion at the Commerce Media Festival. More than 1,000 senior decision-makers from retail media, advertising, retail, brands, streaming and commerce technology attended the wider gathering in London, according to the organisers.
Wider backdrop
The event comes as retail media continues to attract growing interest from retailers, brands and advertising groups looking for new ways to link media spending to commerce outcomes. Topics discussed during the day included connected commerce ecosystems, omnichannel retail media strategies, offsite retail media growth, measurement and attribution, commerce-enabled connected TV, and the convergence of retail, media and entertainment.
Judging was carried out by an independent panel of retail media leaders, practitioners and commerce specialists from across Europe. The awards are part of the wider Commerce Media Festival, organised by RetailX Events.
Colin Lewis, chair of Retail MediaX, said: "The Retail MediaX 2026 entries were a clear sign of how much the retail media industry has matured. The quality and standard was so high that every category prompted robust debate among the judges.
In the end, the winners were the entries that presented the clearest evidence - identifying the challenge, setting out a focused strategy, making deliberate choices about the role of retail media, and demonstrating measurable results and commercial impact. What stood out most this year was the growing sophistication of the sector and the increasing importance of retail media within wider commerce and marketing strategies."
Category winners
The winners reflect the breadth of activity now covered by retail media, from technology and analytics to campaign execution and organisational development. They also show how retailers, agencies, media groups and brand partners are increasingly being judged on measurable commercial outcomes rather than reach alone.
CVS Media Exchange's win in the network category underlines the prominence of retailer-owned media platforms, even as the awards focused on Europe. Recognition for John Lewis x Shark Beauty, Co-op Media Network & SMG, and Very Media Group & SMG also points to the role of collaborations between retailers, agencies and brands in shaping campaign work in the sector.
Individual recognition was also a significant part of the programme. Awards for Sam Mills, Christian Raveaux and Kina Demirel highlighted the emphasis placed on leadership and emerging talent alongside campaign and platform performance.
Retail media has become a closely watched part of the advertising and commerce markets because it sits at the intersection of first-party data, digital media inventory and point-of-sale influence. As retailers build out advertising businesses and brands seek clearer links between marketing spend and sales, awards programmes such as Retail MediaX are increasingly becoming markers of how the sector defines success.
For this year's judges, Lewis said, the entries that stood out were those that clearly defined a commercial problem, explained the role of retail media and showed evidence of results.