What’s NEXT Interview: Intrepid’s Laure Urbin de Vienne on transforming digital commerce through data, retail media, and automation in SEA

Southeast Asia’s e-commerce landscape is in the middle of a sweeping transformation. The rapid rise of digital retail and the growing sophistication of data-driven tools have pushed brands to rethink how they approach performance, growth, and omnichannel engagement. From automation and retail media to cross-platform attribution, marketers today face both new challenges and new opportunities to drive meaningful impact.

In this edition of What’s NEXT in Marketing interview, MARKETECH APAC spoke with Laure Urbin de Vienne, VP of Digital Marketing (SEA) at Intrepid, an e-commerce enabler that helps brands scale across Southeast Asia’s diverse digital marketplaces. 

In this exclusive interview, Laure shares her insights on how technology, automation, and retail media are shaping the future of e-commerce in the region— and how brands can build integrated frameworks for sustainable growth.

The evolution of digital marketing and retail media in Southeast Asia

According to Laure, Southeast Asia’s e-commerce transformation has “completely redefined the game.”

“A few years ago, brands focused mainly on visibility and siloed performance metrics. Today, they’re shifting toward full-funnel growth—where every touchpoint contributes to conversion, retention, and long-term ROI,” she explained.

This shift is not only strategic but also structural. Speed, automation, and cross-channel visibility have become core capabilities rather than add-ons. 

“As an e-commerce enabler, we help brands operationalise this transformation — connecting data, media, and commerce execution to drive measurable impact,” she added. 

Building tech-enabled solutions that automate campaign actions, improve productivity, and unlock scalable performance uplift has also become crucial. Equally important is integration across all e-commerce pillars—retail media, offsite marketing, store operations, and analytics—to enable truly omnichannel digital marketing strategies that bridge awareness and conversion seamlessly.

Retail media, in particular, has emerged as a defining pillar of this evolution. Southeast Asia is now the fastest-growing market globally for both e-commerce and retail media, and what makes it unique, Laure noted, is that “retail media is evolving in parallel with the explosive rise of online shopping — not as a follow-up phase.”

“Platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop are still expanding their ad ecosystems, while brands are already adapting to this evolving landscape,” she said.

The region’s diversity in markets, languages, and cultural traits adds another layer of complexity. Global brands need consistent strategies to win regionally, yet must adapt to local nuances in consumer behaviour and platform maturity. “That balance between regional scale and local relevance is what defines success here,” she added.

The forces driving accelerated adoption of retail media, Laure explained, stem from the massive shift in consumer habits—from traditional retail to e-commerce and now to social commerce. 

“As shopping increasingly happens within ecosystems, retail media has become central to the path to purchase,” Laure further emphasised. 

With this, the demand for automation and actionable insights is surging. “Given the region’s complexity, brands are turning to tech-enabled and data-driven solutions to manage performance efficiently and unlock growth across platforms.”

Solving attribution and data fragmentation across channels

Attribution remains one of the toughest challenges for brands navigating multiple e-commerce ecosystems. Each platform operates within its own rules, data logic, and reporting systems — leading to fragmented performance views and limited ability to connect media to actual commerce outcomes.

“At Intrepid, we address this by providing an aggregated performance dashboard that unifies data across markets, platforms, and campaigns,” Laure shared. “It enables brands to view ad-level performance while keeping visibility on the overall business impact—something native tools alone can’t offer.”

But the real power lies in turning data into action. “It’s not just about reporting. It’s about translating data into insights and turning those insights into strategies that uplift growth,” she explained.

Through data analytics, Intrepid helps brands identify performance patterns, understand how each media investment contributes to store sales, and make smarter budget reallocations across channels. 

According to Laure, in a region where platforms are not yet unified, this integrated approach allows brands to move from reactive optimisation to proactive, data-led growth.

Leveraging martech and automation to balance performance and creativity

For Intrepid, martech is the backbone of efficient and scalable e-commerce growth. “Our MarTech stack was designed to solve very real pain points for both brands and our internal teams,” Laure said.

A key component is Intrepid’s proprietary Retail Media SaaS, which adds a new layer of automation to on-site ads across marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok in Southeast Asia. “By automating actions that were previously manual through rule-based software, we’re able to boost ad performance and deliver uplift at scale—driving measurable efficiency and growth,” she explained.

This platform complements existing seller centres rather than replacing them, enabling control at scale while keeping the right parameters in place. It’s already been adopted by internal teams and external partners, delivering tangible results.

Alongside this, Intrepid’s aggregated performance dashboard provides a consolidated view of campaigns across channels and markets — allowing faster, data-led decision-making and cross-channel optimisation. 

“Together, these tools eliminate guesswork, accelerate execution, and help brands connect performance data to actionable strategies that drive full-funnel growth,” Laure said. 

Yet even as automation advances, creativity remains central. 

“Automation has reached a level of scale that’s transforming the way we operate — but it doesn’t replace the marketer,” Laure emphasised.

She continued, “What it does is take away the repetitive, manual workload so teams can focus on what truly drives growth: translating business objectives into a coherent media plan, ad setup, and performance framework.”

In Southeast Asia, storytelling continues to set brands apart. For Laure, technology’s role is to ensure they tell the right story to the right audience at the right moment. “Automation supports that precision—it doesn’t define the narrative,” she highlighted. 

As AI and data-driven platforms evolve, Laure sees the balance shifting toward strategic thinking and creative testing. 

“Automation and creativity are not in competition — they’re complementary forces driving full-funnel performance. The goal is not to replace human input but to amplify human intelligence and deliver smarter, faster, and more meaningful campaigns.”

What’s next for digital commerce and retail media in SEA

Looking ahead, Laure identified three major shifts shaping the next phase of digital commerce in Southeast Asia.

First, social and livestream commerce will continue to accelerate. “TikTok Shop is only the beginning. The boundaries between social media and e-commerce are disappearing fast, and this convergence will extend even further as content, community, and commerce become fully intertwined.”

Second, AI-driven media automation will move from experimental to standard practice. “From bidding strategies to budget reallocation, automation will drive smarter, faster decisions at scale — freeing marketers to focus on creativity, brand building, and strategy.”

And third, integrated measurement will become non-negotiable. “Brands are demanding unified visibility across platforms, formats, and audiences to truly understand ROI and make data-led choices.”

On the consumer side, discovery and purchase are now one seamless experience. “People no longer move in linear journeys — they see, click, compare, and buy across ecosystems in minutes,” she said.

Ultimately, Laure believes the brands that win will be those able to connect all these touchpoints through data, technology, and insight. 

“The future belongs to those who can combine automation with intelligence and turn complexity into clarity.”