At Margaret in Double Bay, Chef Neil Perry AM curated a private multi-course lunch for 30 of Australia's most senior ecommerce and brand leaders. It wasn't an industry event. It was an afternoon deliberately designed for meaningful conversation — away from the noise, the name badges, and the conference circuit.
A closed-door experience by design
Margaret shut its doors to the public for the afternoon. Every element, from the bespoke steak-focused menu to the wine pairings, was considered. The goal wasn't spectacle. It was to create the conditions for openness.
That intentionality mirrored Neil Perry's philosophy: quality over excess, sourcing with care, attention in every detail. It's the same principle that underpinned the gathering itself: when you design for quality, you create space for substance.
Michael Dunlop, Head of Commercial APAC at Rokt, set the tone early:
Today isn't about Rokt. Today's about bringing together a great group of people for a once-in-a-lifetime meal. It's not often you get this calibre of people in one room, from so many different industries and walks of life.
Why format matters
Most industry events are built for scale: packed agendas, breakout sessions, fleeting networking windows. They serve a purpose. But scale rarely creates the conditions for candour.
The Margaret lunch was built differently. With just 30 guests and three unhurried hours at the table, conversations had room to develop. Leaders who might exchange a quick hello at a conference instead explored what's actually shifting in retail media, what's working in ecommerce relevance, and the operational challenges rarely discussed on stage.
As commerce grows more complex, depth becomes more valuable than breadth. Format shapes conversation - and conversation shapes decisions.
Curated for impact
The guest list was about adjacency. Retail, financial services, travel, and digital leaders whose decisions increasingly intersect were intentionally brought together.
The result was cross-industry perspective: how retail media is evolving beyond retail, how financial services are rethinking the transaction experience, how brands are navigating increasing pressure on margin and attention.
Just as Rokt delivers relevance in the moments that matter most for customers, this experience focused on relevance for leaders, aligning the right perspectives at a moment when the industry is recalibrating.
Setting a higher bar for connection
The Margaret lunch reflects a broader shift in how Rokt engages the commerce community: prioritising depth over reach, quality over scale, and meaningful dialogue over visibility.
In ecommerce, value is unlocked in the Transaction Moment™ — when attention is highest and intent is clear. In leadership, value is unlocked in protected moments where conversation can move beyond surface-level updates into shared problem-solving.
Margaret was the first of these gatherings, not the last. Because when the environment is intentional and the perspectives are aligned, the conversations don't just feel different, they lead somewhere.
If you'd like to be part of the next one, connect with the Rokt team to stay in the loop.
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