Ahold Delhaize USA’s retail media arm announced Thursday the appointment of Bobby Watts to senior vice president of retail media — a newly created position that will oversee the growth of AD Retail Media as well as its revenue and partnerships.

Watts has worked for Peapod Digital Labs, the e-commerce arm of Ahold Delhaize USA, for more than four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, Watts worked at Ahold Delhaize’s Retail Business Services for two years and at Food Lion, where he served in a variety of district manager and category manager roles.

The announcement notes his integral work during the Ahold USA and Delhaize America merger, his role in the development of an omnichannel commercial planning process and, most recently, his efforts related to the in-house build and strategy development of AD Retail Media.  

In addition, AD Retail Media has onboarded Bernadette “Bernie” Van Osdal as the team’s new vice president of sales. Van Osdal most recently worked at New Stream Media, serving as vice president of sales and center of excellence, according to her LinkedIn profile. At Ahold Delhaize, she will work closely with Watts to drive retail partnerships, the press release noted. 

Ahold Delhaize USA brought its retail media arm in-house in October 2022. Watts was part of the original team spearheading the transition as then-vice president and head of AD Retail Media. 

Retail media continues to be a major focus for expansion across the grocery industry with national and regional companies alike launching retail media networks, partnering with third-party technology providers and implementing new technology.  

Early this summer, Albertsons proposed implementing retail media standards to streamline communications between grocers and brand partners. Giant Eagle also took an unprecedented step as a regional retailer with the launch of Leap, an in-house retail media network.