NEW YORK, NY – Kepler has announced the appointment of Heather Dawson as Vice President, Strategy & Activation, Retail Media. Dawson joins the agency amid significant momentum for Kepler’s Commerce & Retail practice, which has grown nearly 30 percent year-over-year as the agency has met client demand for commerce-driven growth solutions by building bench strength across all its offices, including Toronto.
In her new role, Dawson will oversee strategy and activation across Kepler’s retail media portfolio, helping clients translate business objectives into scalable, full-funnel commerce strategies that drive measurable growth. She will serve as a senior advisor to enterprise brands guiding investment, measurement and activation across major retail media networks. Dawson will also lead and mentor teams across the practice, helping advance Kepler’s retail media capabilities and identify new opportunities for innovation and growth.
A commerce and digital marketing veteran with more than 20 years of experience spanning agency, consulting and startup environments in both Europe and North America, Dawson has helped some of the world’s most recognized brands build revenue-generating commerce programs and modernize their retail marketing operations. Throughout her career, she has worked with leading organizations including Kenvue, Nestlé, Unilever, Diageo, LEGO, Dyson, BlackRock and IHG.
“Winning in retail media takes more than media expertise—it takes an agile, deeply embedded partner who understands how a business actually grows,” said Remy Stiles, Global CEO of Kepler. “Heather’s business-first perspective and commerce leadership are exactly what our clients need from us as we build toward the future.”
Kepler’s Commerce & Retail practice operates through a fully integrated model spanning strategy, activation, creative and analytics, supporting clients across direct-to-consumer channels and major retail platforms including Amazon, Walmart, Target and other key commerce partners. The team develops full-funnel retail media programs that connect audience insights, media investment and measurement across the consumer journey. The practice is powered by a proprietary technology ecosystem, centralized through Kip, encompassing several first and third party commerce technology platforms, enabling teams to deliver more effective planning and optimization across commerce investments.
“Retail media has become one of the most powerful growth levers available to brands, but realizing its full potential requires more than investing in additional channels,” said Dawson. “The greatest opportunities come from connecting commerce, media, data and organizational workflows to make marketing more accountable and more effective.”
The appointment reflects Kepler’s continued investment in helping brands capitalize on the evolving commerce landscape through connected strategies that deliver measurable outcomes across channels, retailers and consumer touchpoints.
