Deep Media taps Amazon Ads veteran for retail push

Independent Amazon Ads specialist Deep Media has appointed former Amazon Ads executive Kacie Serls to lead Deep Retail, a new division focused on retail media strategy across Amazon marketplaces.

The appointment comes as retail media investment continues to grow across Australia, New Zealand and globally, with brands looking for clearer links between advertising spend, shopper behaviour and sales outcomes.

Serls brings more than 17 years’ industry experience, including six years with Amazon Ads. She was one of Amazon Ads’ founding local team members and helped launch and scale its CPG division, working with brands including P&G, Nestlé, L’Oréal and Unilever.

She later led Amazon Ads’ expansion into New Zealand before founding Retail8, a consultancy focused on marketplace strategy and growth.

At Deep Media, Serls will lead Deep Retail, which has been created to help brands build more accountable retail media strategies across Amazon marketplaces.

“Retail media is scaling and fragmenting quickly, but most brands are still approaching it tactically. It’s not just about running ads, it’s about understanding customer data, optimising product presence, building creative that converts and measuring everything back to profitability,” said Serls.

Paul Kent, co-founder at Deep Media, said brands are under growing pressure to improve how they show up in marketplaces.

“Retail media across Australia and New Zealand is moving quickly and brands are under pressure to get smarter about how they show up in marketplaces. Kacie understands both the platform dynamics and the commercial pressures brands are navigating,” Kent said.

“Her experience helping scale Amazon Ads and then building her own practice around it, gives her a perspective very few people in this market have.”

Deep Media was founded in 2024 by former Amazon executives Paul Kent, Andrew Hammond and Blake Gorman. The agency is an Advanced Amazon Ads Partner delivering campaigns across ANZ, APAC, Europe and North America.

The business recently expanded its New Zealand operations as part of broader regional growth plans.