NICHOLAS A. WILLIAMS

Retail Media & Shopper Strategy Leader | Driving Growth Across Grocery, CPG & Digital Commerce

Senior marketing leader with 15+ years of experience across agency, retail media, shopper marketing, and omnichannel commerce. Brings a unique retailer-side perspective shaped by hands-on experience operating retail media networks and partnering with leading CPG brands across multiple categories. Specializes in CPG partner activation, revenue-driving media planning, and strengthening the connection between investment decisions, category strategy, and measurable business outcomes. Proven ability to optimize retail media performance, enhance collaboration, and unlock greater commercial value for both retailer and brand partners.

CORE SKILLS

Media Planner | Meijer Media, Grand Rapids, MI Oct 2024 – Present

Partner with national CPG brands to plan and optimize omnichannel retail media campaigns grounded in category objectives and retailer priorities.
Manage channel investment strategy integrating Meijer’s digital, CRM, and in-store channels to drive measurable lift in traffic, conversion, and sales.
Leverage AI tools such as Copilot to analyze performance data, integrate insights into media plans, and strengthen strategic alignment across channels.
Delivered +37% YoY increase in attributed sales through refined targeting, data-driven planning, and digital-shelf integration.

Media Lead | Meijer Media, Grand Rapids, MI Nov 2023 – Oct 2024

Directed $12M+ in retail media investment across Candy, Pantry, Breakfast, and Dry Grocery categories, partnering with top CPGs to align media strategy with merchandising goals and joint business plans.
Collaborated with analytics to develop dashboards that connected retail media spend to ROAS, category impact, and digital-shelf performance.
Improved campaign efficiency and conversion through performance tracking, A/B testing, and budget optimization.
Guided agency and vendor partners to implement consistent best practices across channels and audience segments.

eCommerce Marketing Specialist | Meijer, Grand Rapids, MI Mar 2022 – Nov 2023

Owned paid media and CRM strategy for Meijer Delivery & Pickup, managing a $20M cross-channel budget spanning digital, CRM and in-store.
Delivered +24% conversion and +3% YoY adoption growth through data-driven campaign design and optimization.
Built attribution models connecting spend to sales and retention metrics, improving media efficiency by 18%.
Partnered with Merchandising and Analytics to align media performance with digital shelf and site content optimization.

Senior Manager, Omnichannel Marketing | Smart & Final, Los Angeles, CA Jul 2019 – Mar 2022

Directed digital and shopper marketing strategy for Private Label and national brands within a $5B retail portfolio.
Achieved +14% Private Label revenue growth through integrated retail media and omnichannel campaigns.
Reduced CPM by 38% and CPC by 27% via refined audience segmentation and creative testing.
Strengthened Instacart and Shipt partnerships by improving digital shelf visibility and paid media effectiveness.

Additional Experience & Selected Wins

Leadership & Collaboration: Co-founded a boutique digital agency, delivering omnichannel campaigns for retail, nonprofit, and DTC brands.
Execution & Growth: Built and managed a team of seven media/design professionals and vendors, scaling Smart & Final’s engagement into a multimillion-dollar integrated media and creative partnership.
Innovation & Impact: Led breakthrough social media activations for Paulaner | HP USA’s portfolio of international alcohol brands, achieving a 500% traffic increase during Oktoberfest and growing social audiences by 200%+ across platforms.

Earlier Roles Include

Manager, Media + Design — Digital Fusion • Founder / Strategist — Diffraction Media • Digital Strategist — Designkitchen (WPP) • Digital Marketing Manager — LRXD • Social Media Manager — Widefoc.us • Account Manager — Reed Business Information

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Masters of Arts in Strategic Communication Design, University of Colorado – Boulder, CO

Bachelor of Arts in Business, Management, and Marketing, North Central College – Naperville, IL

CERTIFICATIONS & TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY