This week we’re joined by Celia Van Wickel, Director of Digital Commerce at Russell Stover Chocolates. With a background spanning media, data, neuroscience, and digital commerce, Celia brings a rare and well-rounded perspective to the fast-evolving world of retail media and e-commerce.

She and Dave cover everything from aligning marketing and sales for seasonal campaigns to how neuroscience influences creative performance. Celia shares how Russell Stover is modernizing a 100-year-old brand across Amazon, Instacart, and other digital platforms, while also offering a thought-provoking look at the future of AI-powered discovery and what she calls “the infinite loop” of commerce.

This episode is packed with strategic and tactical insights for marketers navigating today’s fragmented, fast-moving digital landscape.

Episode Highlights

• How Russell Stover aligns retail media strategy across departments to drive consistency and performance during key seasonal moments like Valentine’s Day and Christmas.
• What it takes to modernize creative while staying true to brand identity—and why being product-focused still wins in retail media.
• Why AI will reshape the entire path to purchase, creating a more immersive and seamless shopping experience that blends discovery, content, and commerce.
• How neuroscience and shopper behavior inform Celia’s approach to content design, ad testing, and retail media optimization.
• The origin of Russell Stover’s partnership with It’s Rapid, and how a need for faster retail media asset development turned into a streamlined creative production workflow.

Rapid Rundown Answers

• Which ancient civilization first used cacao beans? The Olmecs
• Which country consumes the most chocolate per capita? Switzerland
• Who invented milk chocolate in 1875? Daniel Peter
• What was the first mass-produced chocolate bar? Fry’s Chocolate Cream
• What birthday did Russell Stover celebrate in 2023? 100!
• Celia’s favorite ways to decompress: long walks, brunch, and industry podcasts

Connect with Celia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celiavanwickel

Follow Beyond the Shelf: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/beyond-the-shelf-podcast

Get the It’sRapid Creative Automation Playbook: https://itsrapid.ai/creative-workflow-automation-playbook/
Take It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey: https://www.proprofs.com/survey/t/?title=ffgvd

Email us at [email protected] with code “BEYOND2025” to find out how you can save more than $1,000 on our Digital Sell Sheets and Retail Media Automation solutions

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker