Growth is no longer won in channels

Ansa Leighton-Buys, newly appointed BX strategic head of Commerce Marketing at dentsu

Growth today is decided long before a campaign runs or a channel is chosen. It is shaped by the systems that determine what products are surfaced, which options are recommended, and what gets bought. These systems are increasingly algorithm led, drawing on signals from media exposure, retail behaviour, availability, price, and past performance. Brands that fail to influence them are invisible at the moments that matter most.

This is where commerce now plays its role. Not as a channel, but as the way brands and retailers shape buying decisions across the entire ecosystem and prove the growth that follows.

For years, growth strategies have focused on optimising channels. Search, social, programmatic, marketplaces and retail media have each been treated as separate levers. That approach no longer reflects how buying decisions are made. Discovery, consideration, and conversion now collapse into a single moment, guided by recommendation engines and automated systems that reward relevance, availability, and performance rather than intent alone.

As data, media and transactions converge, commerce has moved from an executional function into a strategic growth lever, firmly established in the boardroom. It is no longer about where transactions take place. It is about how influence is created, shaped and converted across systems.

Connected commerce is how this influence is designed and delivered. It connects media signals, retail behaviour, content, creativity, data, and identity into a single operating model. One that allows brands and retailers to influence algorithm led buying and measure its commercial impact with clarity.

This shift demands more than better tools or more platforms. It requires a new way of working. One that moves organisations from fragmented execution to coordinated action, and from activity-based reporting to proof of business growth.

As a marketing partner operating across media, data, technology, and commerce, dentsu is uniquely positioned to act as both the connector and coordinator across an increasingly fragmented ecosystem, helping brands and retailers align efforts end-to-end and influence how buying decisions are shaped.

To support this ambition, dentsu is strengthening its commerce leadership with the appointment of Ansa Leighton-Buys as BX strategic head of Commerce Marketing.

In this role, Leighton-Buys will lead the strategic development of commerce marketing across the dentsu network, working closely with brands and retailers to design connected commerce strategies that influence buying decisions across systems and accelerate measurable growth.

“Commerce is no longer about transactions alone,” said Leighton-Buys. “It is about influencing how choices are made. In an algorithm led environment, growth belongs to the organisations that understand how systems work and how to shape them in their favour.”

Central to this approach is dentsu’s Commerce Accelerator OS. It brings together strategy, retail media, data and identity, creativity, closed loop measurement, and operating model transformation into one connected operating system. Designed to help organisations move faster, learn continuously, and prove the commercial value of their investment.

The result is a model built for the realities of modern commerce. One that recognises growth is no longer linear, no longer owned by a single team, and no longer driven by channels in isolation.

Growth is now won by those who influence what gets discovered, recommended, and bought.