Retail media technology firm Zitcha taps former Meta Australia exec Phil Bonanno for APAC role

Retail media technology company, Zitcha, has appointed Phil Bonanno as APAC Commercial Director.

He joins after more than 11 years at Meta, where he served as Client Partner, developing insight led strategies and business plans to enhance retail marketing ROI across Facebook and its advertising ecosystem.

He also serves as an advisor to Retail Cities, a retail data and insights consultancy focused on fast growth markets and industries.

Bonanno says: “Retail has been the through line of my career and I have worked closely with the Zitcha team since before its launch, supporting early partnerships and seeing first-hand how the platform was built to solve real retail challenges.”

“I’ve known and worked alongside Troy (Townsend, Zitcha Group CEO) and Jack Byrne for years, and I’ve always admired their clarity of vision and the culture they create. Joining Zitcha feels like a full circle moment and an opportunity to help retailers and brands unlock more value from retail media across APAC.”

Jack Byrne, Co-founder and APAC CEO at Zitcha, says: “Phil brings a rare combination of retail operational knowledge, media expertise and strategic commercial acumen to both Zitcha, our customers, our partners and finally our prospects unlock long-term retail media value.”

“We’re excited to have someone of his experience choose to join us as we navigate the next phase of growth, and can’t wait to see him continue the momentum seen since inception in the APAC region”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Retail media will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.