RMN Self-Serve Architecture
Objectives
- Scale Creative Output: Eliminate the manual one-to-one design process by transitioning to a “one-to-many” automated template system.
- Remove Operational Bottlenecks: Reduce the time-to-market for brand partners by removing the need for direct creative team intervention on every placement.
- Enable Revenue Growth: Build the foundational architecture for a Phase-Zero Retail Media Network launch that could support high-volume advertiser onboarding.
The Scalability Gap
Petco’s Retail Media Network was growing faster than the creative team could keep up with. Every time a brand like Purina or Blue Buffalo wanted to run an ad, it required a manual, back-and-forth process of asset hand-offs, design tweaks, and compliance checks. It was a high-touch “boutique” model that simply couldn’t scale to meet the demands of a national “Phase-Zero” launch.
The Architectural Vision
My goal was to turn Petco into a self-service platform. I needed to architect a system where advertisers could build their own brand-compliant ads in minutes, not days. This meant designing a creative “engine” that was flexible enough for a national brand’s identity but rigid enough to protect Petco’s own publisher standards. I had to build the logic that would allow the machine to do the heavy lifting.
Systems Governance & Discovery
I acted as the architect between the advertiser’s needs and the technical constraints of the itsRapid platform. I didn’t just design templates; I designed a Modular Design System.
For the Engineering Team: I led the deep-dive discovery to define the technical boundaries. I authored the governance rules that dictated how a logo could sit, how text would wrap, and how brand colors would interact, ensuring that every automated output was pixel-perfect and publisher-ready.
For the Advertiser: I mapped out a “Guided Creation” journey. I focused on making the UI feel like a partner, not a hurdle—translating complex publisher specs into simple, “drag-and-drop” logic.
A Scalable Revenue Ecosystem
We moved from manual execution to a scalable revenue ecosystem. By building the blueprint for this self-serve architecture, we removed the creative bottleneck. Advertisers gained the freedom to move fast, Petco gained a scalable source of revenue, and the creative team was freed from repetitive production tasks to focus on higher-level strategy.
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