Edwards joins from Amazon, where he is currently head of UK agency development. He will be tasked with developing and cementing partnerships with agencies looking to use retail media for clients of the platform. 

During his nine years at Amazon, Edwards has held other roles including global head of agency planning and insight and head of emerging ad products.

Also joining the business is Russell Franklin, who has a remit to expand the role of Tesco Media among a broader range of clients.

Franklin joins from Pinterest, where he was most recently a lead client partner for emerging clients. He has also previously held roles at Google and Zenith.

Both Edwards and Franklin will report to Nick Ashley, client development director at Tesco’s media and insight platform. Their appointments take effect from June.

Ashley said: “Retail media is no longer solely a bottom of funnel opportunity; increasingly, it is playing a broader role across the full marketing funnel for a wider range of clients.

“With agencies rapidly enhancing their capabilities in this area, and clients outside of FMCG increasingly aware of the opportunities retail media presents, now is the right time for us to extend the team further. To attract senior digital leaders of the calibre of Steve and Russell is a sure sign that Tesco sits firmly at the heart of the current media landscape.”

Tesco launched its insights platform with Dunnhumby in 2021 to help suppliers and agencies use Tesco’s data to better understand the retailer’s customers. The platform brings together data from Tesco Clubcard and in-store insights with Dunnhumby’s data science tools to offer insight on shoppers for brands and agencies.

Dunnhumby helped Tesco develop its Clubcard scheme in the 1990s and was later acquired by the firm.