Omnichannel retail media platform Zitcha expands into Europe with new UK office

Zitcha has announced the launch of its European operations with new hires to its office in London. Joining with three decades of combined experience in retail, media, marketing and sales, Darren Jacobs and Dan Sands arrive at Zitcha as EMEA Sales Directors.

Zitcha’s omnichannel Retail Media Platform has been honed since the start of the decade, bringing together onsite, offsite and in-store assets, empowering retailers across seven different countries like Coles Group (AUS), The Warehouse Group (NZ) Peavey Mart (CAN) and Axonet (US). It’s also trusted and relied on by global brands including Unilever, Fisher & Paykel and Microsoft. 

The European market is maturing quickly as retailers and brands look for omnichannel solutions to help unify their existing offerings and streamline their operations to capitalise on digital advertising’s third wave. Retail Media in Western Europe is expected to peak in the UK where eMarketer predicts retail media ad spend is set to almost double from US$4 billion in 2024, to US$7.91 billion by 2027. 

Troy Townsend, Zitcha CEO, commented: “We’ve had a lot of conversations with major players in the UK/EMEA market for the past 6-12 months and see it as mature, innovative with a cast of really great Retail Media networks. We already have partners and runs on the board in the UK and I believe the growth for our solution, and its ability to scale brand and retail businesses, is compelling. 

“We’re so excited to already be working with leaders in this space and now welcome the wealth of experience both Darren and Dan bring. Their knowledge will be exceptional in helping set the tone and culture for Zitcha in the UK. Expect more in the near future as we see Europe as a critical channel for us; which includes a Customer Success lead joining in the coming weeks,” Townsend added.

Dan Sands has been at the forefront of Retail Media as EMEA Sales Director for CitrusAds, where he worked with retailers to create a unified retail media offering. Joining Zitcha with over a decade working in retail, Sands understands how to support brands and retailers, globally, to optimise how they engage shoppers. Most recently he was the EMEA Director of Retail Partnerships at Firework, and prior to that he held multiple leadership positions at Nielsen Brandbank, working with retailers such as Carrefour, Tesco, Sainsbury & Loblaws, alongside the world's largest CPGs, to effectively create, manage, measure and optimise product content.

EMEA Sales Director, Dan Sands said: “Offering the full gamut of omnichannel features, Zitcha helps retailers in a way which no other retail media platform can. From retail media networks, joint business planning into the actual delivery of assets we cover everything across in-store, onsite and offsite. Zitcha can even support retailers with no RM networks who need an expert to guide and consult on best practice. It’s the channel with the most excitement around it right now, and we’ll be here for all European retailers and brands to build on those expectations within the sector.” 

As a former speaker at Dmexco, Madfest, Paris Connect and Innovest, Darren Jacobs appreciates market nuances. He’s spent the best part of two decades honing his sales craft across multiple markets including the UK, Singapore and Australia working for Dennis Publishing, Yahoo, iClick, Nugit and Shuttlerock. The latter 3 were global sales leadership roles with a focus on GTM and building teams in multiple markets. In this time he’s worked with all the major media agency networks plus directly with global brands and partners such as Nestle, P&G, Unilever, Kellogg’s, Diageo, Stellantis, Ford, Meta and TikTok.

Speaking on his appointment, new EMEA Sales Director Darren Jacobs commented: “Zitcha is genuinely a one-stop-platform for brands and retailers. Retail Media provides so much opportunity and is the fastest growing advertising sector. It’s grown rapidly and with Zitcha’s European arrival, that’s only set to act as a further catalyst for maturation as retailers can harness the platform’s power across markets and buy retail media across multiple RM Networks on a single tool.”