Uno de Waal has been appointed as the Head of Retail Media for Australian Venue Co. (AVC), one of Australia's fastest-growing hospitality operators. De Waal will be leading the group's new retail media platform, AVC experience+.

AVC, which manages over 220 pubs, bars, and event spaces across Australia and New Zealand, has seen significant growth in recent years. The venues boast 15.6 million annual visitors and 28.8 million transactions across metro, suburban, and regional venues. The AVC experience+ platform aims to revolutionise the retail media landscape with its 'lifestyle retail media' proposition and deliver national scale and hyper-localisation

De Waal brings a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship and media to his new role. He founded a culture-first publisher for the creative industry in South Africa, called Between 10 and 5. He has also led agency teams and accounts in the alcohol space, including AB InBev, Pernod, Diageo, Treasury Wines, and Paramount Liquor, across Australia and South Africa.

De Waal will now be responsible for monetising and managing AVC’s buyable assets across digital channels, social channels, and in-venue including screens and activations. He will also leverage AVC’s sophisticated and extensive first-party customer data to provide performance optimisations and recommendations to advertisers.

“AVC experience+ offers a unique opportunity to engage audiences while they’re open-minded, making it perfect for brands that want to connect with their audience in an innovative and authentic way, or encourage product trial," he said.

Marianne Mewett, AVC Chief Experience Officer, expressed her confidence in De Waal's appointment.

"His extensive media experience and innovative approach make him the perfect fit to lead AVC experience+, we are confident this platform will become a key player in the retail media space.”