Q&A: Elliott Clayton, Managing Director, International, Epsilon
Elliott Clayton is the commercial lead across all Epsilon products for UK and EMEA; working with direct brands and intermediaries. Through a connected suite of products and services Epsilon combines leading-edge identity management, industrial strength data and technology expertise with big brand acumen gained over five decades working with the industry’s top brands. Elliott leads the way in turning this robust toolkit into everyday personalised interactions that create real business impac
Can you tell us a bit about your background? Please emphasize any retail experience.
I started out as a journalist but quickly realised two things: I wasn’t great at it, and media sales was far more interesting! That kicked off a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing technology, with a heavy focus on retail. I’ve worked across EMEA and APAC with brands like Boohoo Group, Frasers, RM Williams, and Pharmeasy.
For the last seven years, I’ve been deep in first-party data activation, identity-driven media and AI. I’m a big believer in personalisation in media and CRM execution. I’ve seen it work too many times not to be. The businesses I’ve worked with have delivered hundreds of millions in proven incremental revenue – and at the end of the day, sales matter.
Never Miss a Retail Update!These days, I’m helping to push omnichannel retail media forward with the UK’s biggest grocers, making sure every pound spent works harder.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
Epsilon helps brands build deeper, more personal connections by harmonising customer interactions across all marketing channels. Our technology integrates data, AI, and identity solutions, enabling brands to target real customers with highly relevant, personalised messages at the right time and place. By focusing on individuals—not just audience segments—we ensure that every customer interaction is meaningful and impactful.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
Our platform, Epsilon PeopleCloud, is designed to make customer interactions seamless and intuitive, no matter where consumers engage with a brand. What sets us apart is that we combine multiple capabilities—advertising, marketing, and data management—into one integrated platform. Capabilities such as identity resolution, customer data platforms, clean rooms, retail media, site personalisation, direct mail, loyalty, email marketing and measurement are all included. This holistic approach allows brands to not only connect with customers across all channels but also deliver consistent, personalised experiences that drive loyalty and results.
What advantage does it add?
Epsilon helps brands maximise their marketing budgets by ensuring they reach the right people, rather than casting a wide net to target general audience groups. Demographics, psychographics, buyergraphics and more, our AI-driven platform ensures that the right message is delivered at the optimal time, making marketing campaigns more relevant, impactful, and efficient. As a result, brands see higher engagement, increased sales, and stronger, more lasting customer relationships—all while avoiding the typical pitfalls of wasted ad spend.
How does a product/service implementation actually look like and how do you measure success?
The process starts with connecting and organising a brand’s customer data, unlocking valuable insights that allow for personalised marketing across various channels. From there, we continuously optimise campaigns in real-time to maximise performance. Success is tracked through clear metrics such as increased engagement, higher sales, and more efficient spend. Ultimately, we focus on delivering measurable outcomes that make a tangible difference to a brand’s bottom line.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like? Can you share a case study with us?
Retailers use our AI-powered retail media solutions to personalise ads and offers, creating more relevant and engaging shopping experiences for customers. Best practices involve integrating both online and offline data to better understand consumer behaviour and optimise campaigns across multiple touchpoints. A great example is Currys, who used our platform to identify over one million potential buyers and deliver personalised digital ads. This resulted in an impressive 8:1 return on ad spend, with 65% of purchases coming from new customers and over a quarter of tracked sales happening in-store. This case highlights the power of data-driven strategies and the tangible benefits of using retail media to drive both online and offline sales.
Are there other companies you partner with?
Epsilon is at the heart of the advertising ecosystem, collaborating with a wide range of partners, including top brands, agencies, and retailers like John Lewis Partnership and Tesco. We also work with various other partners who help enhance our offerings, ensuring that we deliver the most comprehensive and effective solutions for our clients.
What challenges are retailers facing in 2025?
Retailers face multiple challenges in the retail media space. One key issue is the pressure to share their valuable first-party data with brands, but this must be done carefully. While brands need better insights, retailers must keep in mind the importance of protecting their transactional data—it’s a core asset that gives them a competitive edge. Another challenge is the push for standardisation in retail media. While standardisation can provide structure and simplify measurement, it risks undermining the unique strengths of retail media. Unlike traditional media, which relies on broad metrics like impressions and clicks, retail media thrives on tracking the incremental impact of each interaction on real business outcomes.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
At Epsilon, we specialise in collecting and using data to drive measurable, valuable outcomes for retailers. Just like with Currys, we show how retail media can deliver meaningful results by focusing on incremental performance rather than just vanity metrics like impressions. Retailers should avoid the temptation to standardise everything and take the easy route. Instead, they need to leverage the unique strengths of retail media, focusing on how each interaction drives tangible outcomes. With our platform, retailers can continuously optimise their campaigns in real-time, adjusting and testing as they go, ensuring they get the most out of every opportunity.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
Looking ahead, Epsilon is focused on further integrating our market-leading digital identity, data, and AI capabilities to drive creative media and digital transformation. These strengths are proving especially valuable in high-growth areas like CTV and retail media, where precision and personalisation are critical.
Our capabilities are being embedded across Publicis Groupe as a key part of the Power of One model, ensuring seamless collaboration and impact. You can expect us to double down on anything that helps us deliver ‘One View, One Vision and One Voice’ to enable brands to engage customers in the most relevant, effective way possible.
………………………………
To find out how Epsilon can help your retail operation, connect with them here or visit them online here.
