4 winning retail media trends every brand needs in their cart
Fresh from the Zalando Partner Marketing Awards – the pulse check for retail media success – here are four standout trends shaping the future, led by brands like Ralph Lauren, Coach and Vans.
Retail media has become the hottest space in marketing. But it can also be the hardest to navigate, in its sprawling ecosystem of retailers, marketplaces, data platforms and media networks all promising precision and performance.
At the same time, CMOs are being asked to prove ROI across fragmented channels while consumer journeys blur across physical stores, e-commerce and social commerce.
And so retail media has become one of today’s biggest brand gold rushes – and also one of its biggest guessing games.
In this market, the Zalando Partner Marketing Awards have emerged as a rare compass for success. Why? Firstly, their scale: now in their fifth year, the awards celebrate the best campaigns run on Zalando – one of Europe’s leading online destinations for fashion and lifestyle, reaching up to 52 million active shoppers. And also, their criteria: award entries are based around campaigns that drive marketing and business impact, not just clicks and impressions.
Little wonder winners have become the retail media barometer for marketers searching for clarity, proof and inspiration in an uncertain world.
Celebrating the winners of the Zalando Partner Marketing Awards 2025
As Joanna Rogers, managing director, Zalando Marketing Services explains: “Leveraging Zalando’s proprietary commerce and media data, these awards establish a direct link between exposure and key marketing and sales performance indicators. This enables us to honor campaigns that successfully combine creativity with strong performance. Consequently, marketers consistently affirm that these awards serve as concrete proof of effective retail media strategies.”
Ready to see what’s ringing up brand success? We’ve got you.
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Storytelling that sells
In today’s retail media landscape teeming with performance strategies, endless product feeds and short attention spans, the most effective campaigns don’t just sell: they tell. And by tell, we mean authentic narratives that blend real human emotion – empathy, humor, warmth – with shoppable moments. Because that’s what transforms a transaction into an experience that inspires and converts.
Winner of the Creative & Storytelling category, Coach, is a great example of this. Its ‘Cooking with Coach’ campaign partnered with influencer Gabbriette on a tongue-in-cheek cookery show that showcased an exclusive bag collection. Designed to engage a younger Gen Z audience, each episode took inspiration from the bags’ colors, with recipes and set designs that playfully mirrored their tone and personality. The result was a stylish fusion of humor, nostalgia and product storytelling in a campaign that felt more like entertainment than advertising.
Coach winning in the Creative & Storytelling category
And it worked. Coach smashed forecasting figures, with +138% sales and +230% revenue – making it the brand’s most successful full-funnel campaign to date.
It’s proof that good storytelling can be the shortcut to relevance – turning attention into emotion, and emotion into action.
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Seasonal surges
In retail media, timing, and – more specifically – owning meaningful moments means everything. High-performing campaigns align perfectly with seasonal moods, cultural rhythms and consumer intent.
But conjuring up this kind of timely magic is harder than ever: trends shift overnight, audiences are fragmented across channels and every brand is competing for relevance during key retail peaks. To stand out, marketers have to combine emotional storytelling with commercial precision, creating campaigns that feel right for the season as well as bang on brand.
Polo Ralph Lauren winning the Seasonal & Category Award for the second year in a row
For example, Polo Ralph Lauren’s Holiday campaign (Seasonal & Category winner) pulled off that combination brilliantly. Designed to bring the New York holiday spirit to Zalando customers, the campaign was based around a two-phased, full-funnel strategy focusing on brand elevation and driving retail performance. Achieving an exceptional balance between storytelling and commercial success, this was the second year in a row that Ralph Lauren won this award for its Holiday campaign. For marketers, it’s a reminder that blending emotional storytelling with sharp commercial timing can turn seasonal relevance into measurable results.
3
Data-driven platform power
Success in retail media now depends on acting on data, not just collecting it. That means real-time strategies agile enough to move with shifting audiences and touchpoints. Canny marketers treat data as part of the creative process, using live analytics to fine-tune performance and squeeze more impact from every impression.
That approach powered s.Oliver’s Self Service category-winning ‘Q4 Reinvented’ campaign, which built a unified brand presence across the holiday season. Using Zalando’s Ad Manager and Sponsored Product Ads, the team continuously optimized messaging around top-performing products and days. The result was 38 million impressions, a 20% conversion rate and a 16.7% uplift in return on advertising spend (ROAS).
The lesson for marketers? Data only drives growth when it’s acted on. And adaptability and optimization, not analysis alone, is what turns insight into impact.
s.Oliver wins the Self Service category for its Q4 Reinvented campaign
4
Aisle-blazing boldness
It’s easy – and very tempting – to play it safe in this fast-paced market. But that dynamic pace also sets the standard of what customers love from their brands – creative risks, entering new spaces and blending culture with commerce in ways that surprise and delight. The caveat, as ever, is that boldness and risk-taking need to make sense and feel authentic to the brand’s audience.
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Brand Expansion category winner On is a great example of this type of boundary-pushing. Its ‘Energy to Dream’ campaign broke from the usual tech-driven tone of performance footwear launches, positioning movement as an emotional, human experience.
It was a bold move for a new brand debuting on Zalando – introducing a premium running label to a mainstream audience through a 360° activation that mixed on-site media, off-site storytelling and live events. But the risk paid off, with a 65% uplift in products being added to customer wish lists and an 8% boost in cart conversion.
On winning the first ever ‘Brand Expansion’ Award
Meanwhile, recognized as a Special Award winner for ‘Inspiration & Entertainment’, Vans’ ‘What do I wear when the piazza passes the vibe check?’ campaign swapped product messaging for witty, Gen-Z targeted, cultural authenticity and nods to meme culture. Set in a sun-soaked Italian piazza, it showcased Vans’ skate-culture spirit in an irreverent but smart way that resonated with its audience.
A surprise moment - Vans winning the special Award for Inspiration & Entertainment
For marketers, the message is: playing it safe won’t make you stand out. The brands winning now are the ones brave enough to take risks that feel real, relevant and right for their audience.
“What we’re seeing across these winners is that the future of retail media isn’t just about performance: it’s those that take smart risks, connecting creativity, data, AI-driven tech and cultural insight to deliver real impact.”
Joanna Rogers, managing director, Zalando Partner Marketing Services
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