Walmart Connect Int'l & Sam's Club Connect's Rich Lehrfeld: Driving Brand Growth Through Full Funnel Unified Advertising

PVSB (00:08)

Hello and welcome again to the CPG Guys podcast. I am your affable and lovable co-host, PVSB. I also Moonlight as head of industry and client engagement at Flywheel, the commerce acceleration division of Omnicom. We are recording today's episode from Le Majestique Hotel Cannes for the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Joining me today is my co-host. is the co-founder of Think Blue consulting the father of Popstars Rhea Raj and Katseye's Lara Raj.

fans, of course, call him Papa Raj, but here in Cannes they call him Papa Entouraj because he's always got a cadre of people surrounding him. But to me he's my BFF. He is the Thelma to my Louise. the Wayne to my Garth. Of course, I am referring to the man known as Sri. Sri, we're we're closing out Cannes, we're getting down to the last, but we saved the best for last, didn't we here?

Sri (01:01)

We certainly did. I think we have one more after this.

Sri (01:03)

Mm-hmm.

PVSB (01:04)

But this is

that's a different kind of episode. Yeah, you know, you could have just rolled right through you could have you could have just rolled right through and acknowledged said,

Sri (01:12)

Need a can recap episode.

PVSB (01:13)

yeah, that's okay, that doesn't really count. But in anyhow.

Sri (01:16)

Been

it's been it feels like a

Rich (01:18)

The second

Sri (01:19)

So, yes.

Rich (01:19)

last battle.

Sri (01:20)

No, the best podcast. Let's how about we just call that the best episode. Best episode in the making right here with our guests. But Peter, overall, a fast four days, lots of activation, lots of panels, lots of conversations, and lots of networking events, breakfasts, happy hours, lunches. Fruitful is what I would sum up the week as.

PVSB (01:44)

I absolutely would Sri. Thank you as always for joining me. To our audience, if you are getting value from these conversations, we only have three asks. Number one, subscribe to the CPG guys on whatever platform you're listening to right now. It could be Spotify, could be Apple, Amazon Music, YouTube, whatever. just hit the subscribe or follow button as the platform indicates, and that way you'll never miss an episode. Two, leave us a rating. It takes maybe 30.

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You're already a part of, search CPG Guys on LinkedIn and hit follow or click the link in the digital show notes of this episode. Subscribe, rate, follow. These three simple actions that help us bring you more of the conversations that matter. So let's get to our terrific guest. He's one of the most influential figures in retail media, and yet he's never been on the podcast until now. Yes.

Sri (03:07)

Problem solved.

PVSB (03:08)

I know, problem solved. He's a leader who has helped shape the conversation around what it means to build advertising that truly drives business outcomes, not just impressions.

Rich Lehrfeld is the senior vice president and general manager of Walmart International Advertising, the retail media arm of one of the world's largest and most consequential retailers. But his remit has grown significantly. He, in addition to leading Walmart International Advertising, now leads Sam's Club Connect, making him the architect of what is fast becoming a unified global advertising

Ecosystem powered by Walmart's unmatched scale first-party data and customer relationships. Under Rich's leadership, Walmart Advertising has evolved from a performance marketing vehicle into a full-funnel omni-channel growth platform, one that's moved the industry conversation beyond clicks and ROAS towards accountability, long-term customer value, and measurable business outcomes that CPG brands actually care about. Sams Club's Connects inaugural.

presence at Cannes Lions this week is just the latest signal that Walmart is playing at the highest levels of brand building, not just commerce activation. And with Walmart's first party data spanning hundreds of millions of shopper journeys, Rich is uniquely positioned to tell us what the future of the advertising retailer partnership actually looks like. Rich, welcome to the CPG Guys. We're glad to have you

Sri (04:29)

Well,

Rich (04:31)

I have

Sri (04:29)

thank you for having me.

Rich (04:32)

I'm a big fan. I always listen and yes, I have been ducking you for a long time, so I'm glad we can do this.

Sri (04:39)

Busted!

Rich (04:42)

Of course

I wanted to do this. We've had so many people across Walmart and Sam's Club, Walmart Connect, some great people. So I'm just happy to be part of it, happy to be part of the conversation. You guys do a great job in the industry supporting the overall industry and also having the conversation about what we're doing and why we're doing it. So thank you.

PVSB (04:58)

the relationship we have with the the corporate communications team at Walmart is tremendous. We're always talking and strategizing on different avenues. We've beyond obviously the core Connect business and the international advertising. We've had people on from marketplace, from supply chain logistics, data ventures. And I went I was fortunate enough to go to Inspire last year. That was a great event. So we're just so happy to be in such close connection with the Walmart family.

Sri (05:25)

Yeah,

we

Rich (05:25)

Love

being part of your family. We love coming on your show and talking to you guys. it's important. This the industry is important to us.

how we come to the industry, how we support suppliers, how we support advertisers, how we support our all all of our customers, and and grow this pie together because we think we think there's a lot of value. We know there's a lot of value in what we're all doing.

PVSB (05:44)

Brilliant. To our audience, please check out the digital show notes of this episode. You're gonna find a link to Rich's LinkedIn profile and links to both Walmart Connect here in the United States and Sam's Club Connect. So those will all be buried in. So don't worry, you don't have to write them down or figure out what it is. Just go to the digital show notes, easy hyperlink. All right, let's get to the questions. Rich, I'll kick us off. Now that you're leading Walmart Connect alongside international advertising and Sam's Club Connect, what

What does one connected global advertising ecosystem actually look like operationally? And how soon will advertisers actually feel that that's what's happening?

Rich (06:23)

Obviously retail media is exploding. You guys cover it. You do a wonderful job of bringing it to life in a lot of your episodes. reach was critical when I started in the media business. Reach is still important, but the notion of actually be able to connect with consumers through the the journey, especially when they're making decisions at the point of sale, is even more critical than ever. And then being able to get those audiences, be able to measure, that's what retail media promises.

So a full funnel approach that's measurable, that's actionable, retail media is that promise. So if you think about it, it's been exploding in the US. It's also been starting to explode internationally. it is maybe a little behind, but then that notion of a strong first-party signal that can give you better audiences, that can help you activate, that can help you measure is critical no matter where you go. So that those principles are going to carry around the world. They're carrying at Sam's Club. and with

Our Sam's Club Connect. So for us, when I talk about connected global ecosystem, it's about taking what we the great activation, the great way we build both in the US and bring it globally and bring it into Sam's Club. And that doesn't necessarily mean that we lose the individual nature of a Mexico or a Canada or Sam's Club itself. There's a lot of nuances to each one of those businesses. But if we can think holistically about our business and we can operate as one

More and bring some of the wonderful stuff that we've built globally, it's just gonna make it much more impactful. I look at operationally for me in eight Ps. I always go in these kind of eight Ps. And you can again you can stop me at any point, but the notion of P

Sri (07:58)

In you.

Rich (07:58)

I start with purpose. What is our purpose? If Walmart's purpose is to help people save money and live better, when do what do we do to come to work every day to help support that mission? Well, we

We come to work every day by building advertising platform that can deliver value to our customers or our members. It has to start there. We have to build a platform that can deliver tremendous value for our suppliers or sellers or advertisers. Help them grow their businesses. We have to be maniacal helping them do that. If we help them grow their businesses, solve their business challenges, we'll make money, not the other way around.

And then ultimately we have to create value. We have to create value for Walmart. We have these alternative revenue streams that can feed back into the business to help support our operations. That's critical to business. So purpose, like why do why do we do it and how we do it? People. How do we take the operational way of we operate against people and structure the great things that we've learned in the US and bring it to international? And that can mean structure, that can mean people and and competencies. So purpose, people.

Processes, how do we operate, how do we work together, both in Walmart Connect, Sam's Club Connect, and also across the ecosystems of Sam's Club in Walmart? Really critical. The value proposition, so again, what are we offering to advertisers? I think of the business as supply, demand, and performance. Pretty simple. What do we offer to advertisers to help them engage with customers on-site or in-store or in market? So usually two things, which is like off-platform or on platform, and how do we

bring that to life. I talk about partnerships, partnerships of internally but really specifically externally. Who do we work with to help engage with customers, tech partnerships, media partnerships, agency partnerships, and what how we bring to life that in the US and international and back and forth. I talk about the products and the platform and the operations. What is our tech platform? what's the value propositions that move to the platform?

and how do we deliver against that? I talk about the P&L. Everybody has to know how do we make money? How do we deliver

Sri (09:57)

Mm-hmm.

Rich (09:58)

for Walmart overall? And then last is the prioritization. If I miss one, I apologize. I think I got eight there. The prioritization of how we do all this and the sequential nature of how you bring this to market and how you take a business and scale that. And that's that's the eight. So for me, if we can do this all well, we can have consistency, we can deliver for advertisers and a more

holistic way so they're not just dealing with Sam's Club Connect, they're not just dealing with Walmart US Connect, they're dealing internationally. They can expect that whatever they build or whatever their objectives are, that we can execute that similarly across the world.

PVSB (10:32)

Sri I think we need to tell our idol Phil Cotler to move over because his four P's have just

Yes. That is good. That is good.

Sri (10:42)

might me double its size. Absolutely. That said, Rich, you know, you have pretty extensive experience in the US market as well as Walmart Connect in the US. you started I think with the eight Ps I'm getting the sense there's a playbook. Yes. And there are things in that playbook

Rich (10:56)

Nine.

PVSB (10:57)

We're up to nine.

Sri (10:58)

And so perfectly set me up for this question. Mm-hmm. Tell us about which pieces of those playbook that you have extensive experience building here in the US you're excited to take to international.

Rich (11:08)

Yeah.

Sri (11:09)

So I think all of it.

Rich (11:11)

So you know, we have a a lot of success in the US. You guys obviously you you you've seen, you've talked to a lot of our people in the US. for me all

Sri (11:18)

It's.

Rich (11:18)

all of it, from structures and people, but the platform is gonna be super exciting. Again, supply-demand performance. What do we provide to advertisers on site and off site? Lots of benefits and opportunities for advertisers. The demand side I didn't go into that, but we wanna attract advertisers of all sizes, from the largest CPG advertisers all the way down to

marketplace sellers and international. Sam's Club is a very 1 P business, but internationally we have the same needs and opportunities with marketplace sellers and then building out performance. But the thing I think that I'm most excited about and specifically with Sam's Club is because Sam's Club is a closed ecosystem, membership based, people pay for that. It's really a one-to-one and understanding customers. We know everybody that walks into a club. We know everybody online and being

to take that data and the measurement that can come out of that and the longitudinal life cycle of a customer, not just they had a one-time sale, but over the life cycle of the customer and even beyond taking that what would what's the next best great action. So measurement is really going to be critical to everything we do. And the in the data allows us and the insights of the customer allows us to be able to do that.

PVSB (12:28)

Rich, this is Sam Club Connect's first time at Cannes Lions.

Sri (12:33)

I didn't know that.

PVSB (12:33)

It is. And it comes and it comes on the heels of a

Sri (12:36)

Love you guys.

PVSB (12:36)

a big branding announcement on Monday. what's the headline message you want advertisers and agencies to walk away with from this?

Sri (12:43)

Yeah, so it.

Rich (12:45)

It does

represent an evolution of our business. there's two pieces that we're announcing, and then I'll kind of I'll try to summarize the the notion that I want advertisers agencies in the marketplace to really understand. The first is that it's a new day at Walmart. We have been working towards platformizing top of the word, platformizing

Sri (13:02)

Yeah, we'll go with

Rich (13:03)

across Walmart overall. We see the value of making sure that we operate as as a platform.

Together, whether that's marketplace or we talk about data, the advertising business, the way we think about products and building, we are starting to really think holistically across Sam's Club and Walmart International in Walmart. And advertising piece is no different. So Sam's Club is really a notion of that we're gonna be part of the broader ecosystem of the Connect business and all the benefits that come with hopefully me coming over the benefits.

Sri (13:34)

instead

of me coming over and...

Rich (13:36)

with the teams to make sure that we can think holistically globally. so that's the first thing, and under the chief growth officer of Walmart. The second thing is this notion of connectness. And why Walmart, when we did Walmart Connect and now with Sam's Club Connect, it's the notion of how do we connect members to great brands. and then also Walmart within that. So the three-way partnership to help accelerate. So this connection is really critical to the business.

To really accelerate. So that stronger connection you'll start to see holistically globally, but also within the Sam's Club Connect business. It's a more unified narrative. And then simply, we can talk about the Connect businesses. It makes it much simpler for advertisers. We can have one kind of conversation where we're not having to say Sam's Club X. It's the Connect businesses. And then what you can expect over time is what you're doing with Walmart Connect in the US. We can execute similar programs. But also

Sam's Club has a lot uniqueness, especially the experiential and the in-store pieces that we can uniquely do and then uniquely measure in in different ways. If you look at our value proposition now and the new proposition is really three things, membership and the value of membership. again, our our members pay and what their expectation is a connection a connection to us, a community.

Sri (14:49)

of value.

Rich (14:50)

And so that expectation and then how we operate against those members will be unique to us. the notion of experience, we will be building out much more experiences, and we can talk about that if you want to. But Sam's Club will have a lot of unique experiences in club, out of the club, and also online. that will be unique to that. And then the impact, the measurement, the impact. Retail media is really about that measurement, but again, the club assets

and the notion of that uniqueness, that relationship we have, we will have lots of data that we can do, really interesting things, measure impact, predict the future, that's unique. So our headline is membership model is a true differentiator and unique in the marketplace.

PVSB (15:31)

I'll tell you before Shri asks the next question. Sri, and I agree we think of Sam's Club in particular as being the the the birthplace of innovation in the organization, whether it be Scan and Go where it started there, Scan and Ship, there's just so much that happens in that format and coupled with the fact that you have a hundred percent attribution of all purchases there, all of the signals together brings about an ability for an advertiser to really target an audience.

understand what the customer experience is, the journey is, and deliver a really delightful experience that has great outcomes. Sri

Sri (16:05)

Yeah.

Rich (16:06)

Exactly.

Sri (16:07)

Well said indeed. One of the things that was coming to my mind, you know, this is the first time you guys are here at Cannes as on the Sam's side at least as Sam's Club Connect. How does a presence here fit into Connect's broader growth strategy? Is it scale you know as as you work your scaled offerings like in club, omni

Rich (16:28)

Yeah.

Sri (16:29)

I'm watching this television that is opposite me, scroll through, you know, there's things like audio, fuel screen.

And take us through it.

Sri (16:37)

Yeah, so.

Rich (16:38)

being

here is super exciting. I I love the energy that it brings partners and people and we talk a lot about AI or technology and it's you know, people say it's gonna replace some people and stuff, but I

PVSB (16:49)

He's already building

an agent to replace me as a co host.

Sri (16:53)

are you about these

Sri (16:56)

Yeah, I have LLM ready for six hundred episodes.

Rich (16:59)

Well well with all that kind of conversation, you know, Walmart talks about, you know, being people led and tech enabled or tech powered. and I still believe the the notion of all of us together and the power that people can drive in the industry in the business with technology that's gonna help enable, that's the fuel. I I just don't think it's gonna change. So having every people here in Cannes, having conversations with humans about partnerships, unique partnerships, different partnerships, of course, technology is gonna be fuel.

That, but it allows us to kind of talk in different ways. And for us, Sri, as you were talking about, we are building this experience network within Sam's Club and we have it. We have unique opportunities for, as you said, scan and go, the radio program, demos, parking lot events, but also in the industry, we're building programs that allow suppliers or advertisers to connect with our members and create new members.

The holistic, but but those audiences or those ways to engage customers and then ultimately we can measure the outcomes and reconnect on an ongoing basis. And then over time, there's that unique connection, there's that unique experience, and I believe experiences are critical. Sam's Club is all about experience. Over time, is it going to create more value? is it gonna make the member more engaged, create more value for suppliers and sellers, and then over time will we be able

to get lookalikes and more people like that engaged with our family and the suppliers family.

PVSB (18:25)

All right, the industry conversation seems to be shifting from impressions in ROAS towards broader business outcomes. What does that shift look like in practice for how Walmart structures its advertising partnerships going forward?

Rich (18:39)

I

guess traditionally

Advertisers, suppliers, sellers, you know, they went from basic reach and and frequency, and we started as an industry moving into more measurable things, clicks or short-term ROAS. we're starting to obviously go into the iROAS. but the I guess the future is advertisers are gonna wanna are wanting to understand more broad, broader business objectives. They want to understand long-term growth, they want to understand engagement and what it leads to.

And then over time, how do they find more customers? Membership gives that lens and gives a different lens on that business impact. As I was saying, we can look at the life cycle of a member more than anybody can do. Because we see that. We see people growing with their relationship with us a long time. We see them growing through life. And we can understand their needs, meet their needs, deliver more value. Because everything we should be doing is delivering value to the customer.

Whether it's advertising or whether it's in store benefits, it's a value to the customer. Retail media is about experience and value. We don't want to shove something in front of them that doesn't have value. So whether it's a sample in a store, whether it's having them see a new product that they never would have seen before, that will lead them into a longer life cycle with that supplier or with that advertiser, that's what we're wanna do. we're really putting our partnerships around that. Not about

If you if you want to just buy search, you just want short-term sales, we'll help you.

Sri (20:05)

I'm sure a lot of people ask.

Rich (20:07)

And and we're happy.

Sri (20:08)

Happy to do that? Well,

they sell.

Rich (20:11)

They do reach, but they also, if you're buying sponsor product, you're selling product. We know we see it, we see the lift. but if you have deeper business objectives, which most do, they want that, but they also want to understand like how do I build a relationship with a member, a customer, an international, you know, all of our customers that come into our stores, they have a relationship with us. so they're looking for not just that. They're looking for a relationship, they're looking for a repeat purchase with Sam's Club Connect.

You know, our our pack sizes are bigger, our relationship goes deeper. There's so much opportunity and that's what we're selling and that's what we're trying to build off of to make it even a better ecosystem and experience for our again our advertisers, suppliers, sellers, and deliver more value for our members.

Sri (20:53)

The CPG

guys will never debate you if we should be if retail and brands should be delivering more value for the customer at the end of the day. The customer is all our collective boss and even Peter and I, the people that we serve here in the industry, CPG and retail, it's the same boss. So we know that pretty clearly. We just had a very brief discussion here right now on brands wanting to go to lower funnel, getting just to sponsor product, things of that nature. So if I asked you, Rich, think through what would be one big miss

Rich (21:22)

Yeah, I think it's kind of like what we were we were talking about, which is this notion of like retail media is this last click purchase. Yeah, lower funnel. Lower funnel, last click, point of sale, which it is again

PVSB (21:33)

It's how it's how the industry started, right? And and and to a large degree, it's how most platforms develop.

Sri (21:40)

And it

worked.

Rich (21:42)

buy sponsored product, right? you

get to the top of the in grid, it lifts sales, the you know, consumers, you know, they'll say

PVSB (21:50)

Very

quick.

Sri (21:52)

It's quick.

Rich (21:52)

And and and and we all do that and we love it and we help our suppliers or advertisers do that, but I think the misconception is that all it d does. Yeah. And retail media has really expanded over the last couple of years to really understand the journey of customers. We talk about life cycle of the customer, or we talk about full funnel, however however you talk about it. Everybody's like, Well, what is it? Whatever you want. But the notion of a consumer journey, the way I think about it, is not necessarily linear. And even if it was linear, retail media can deliver on that, right? We can deliver

A brand, an engagement, a passion point through sponsorship, or some other way that a brand wants to connect with a customer, or we want to connect with a customer, down to the exploration of what the product is, understanding what the product is, and the engagement. Wow, that's I'm going to go deeper. What is that? Let me research that all the way down to eventually the acquisition or the sale. Retail maybe can do all that. Allow you to optimize in a much faster way because you're getting insight.

Yeah.

And then ultimately measure that and then bring it around again, which is saying, okay, well, I love that. That really worked. How do I find more of those people? And how do I keep engaging that cut that member or that customer? Retail media can do that. So the misconception is it's only this one bottom funnel sort of thing. It's changed. And that's the exciting part for me as a past brand marketer and a future marketer because I think it's all intersecting in the middle of that full that funnel. and retail media allows you to do that.

Sri (23:16)

So I wanna do a quick follow up on that one. Sure. So our take, the C P G guys take, is the C P G C P G brands are ways to go on that. But you're dealing with as a practitioner thousands of some of the greatest brands in the world, global brands. Do you see that shift already happening?

Sri (23:31)

I do, I would say.

Rich (23:32)

If we can be honest, maybe some of the larger CPG brands, like in your your world, they are a little ahead. they're thinking that they're starting to combine teams like no longer a brand team and a shopper marketing team. They're really starting to think about the team of how we reach the customer and the consumer, the CMO with the shopper marketing. The larger CPG, maybe that's traditionally you can tell me like that, they've always led the way in that that respect. but I'm also seeing more of the smaller, maybe maybe the smaller

brands also because there's only there was only one person doing it all in the

Sri (24:04)

So they already had all

Rich (24:06)

but that middle maybe that middle section starting to learn which is I can't have them separate we can't operate separately we have to kind of combine forces and think and then they're also looking to us what I what I have been saying to suppliers or partners this week which excites me because I've always said this which is give us a brief don't just tell us to buy search I keep we will if you want us to

Sri (24:26)

saying. But

it's there for you.

Rich (24:29)

By recommend you.

But really what I want is a brief. Who is who is your who do you think your customer is? What's their life like? Give us a psychographics, give us demographics, help us understand the business objectives. What are you trying to do? What do you think you want to do? And then we can come back to you with opportunities, solutions, ways to activate, and ways to think about in a different way of the Sam's Club member, and the Walmart customer.

It's international. And that's like a different kind of conversation for retail media. Maybe, maybe traditional media companies, or maybe you, as traditionally said, upper funnel. Maybe they got that brief in the past. I don't know. But what I know is these briefs are helping us really shape a completely different way to engage with members and for international our customers and a different way we can activate. Because there's it's endless opportunities for all of us. Like there's endless opportunities. So give us a little

give us a little and we'll give you a lot.

PVSB (25:25)

Rich, we we spoke a couple weeks ago with Chris Peterson, the CEO of Newell Brands, and he talked about the fact that they've started to build digital personas for each of their brands as to who their ideal consumers are and they're doing concept testing around everything from product to actually media and stuff. Are you getting to the point where you're asking for them to do this? Are you starting to see them come up with these kind of capabilities?

Rich (25:48)

It's it's a it's a great question. I would say some. Yeah. not enough. And when we're asked

Sri (25:53)

Well, it's somewhat new and again, when

Rich (25:56)

And I'm asking

Sri (25:57)

people are like, wait a second.

Rich (25:58)

Yeah, that makes a lot everybody agrees with it. the agencies have gotten traditional briefs because sometimes they write the briefs. Right. they just haven't really traditionally shared it with retail media companies or even brand traditional media companies. but I am seeing it. And even if it's not the biggest brief, even if it's a a little tiny brief, it helps us get closer to what they're trying to do in the objectives. Alignment on the objectives and the KPIs and the goals is so critical because what I hate and

Sri (26:24)

is

Rich (26:25)

it's ha it happened.

Like let's let's be honest. What happens is we run a campaign and then it works or not works based on sometimes of what their perceived notion of what it needed to deliver. If it's not always

Sri (26:36)

ever.

Rich (26:38)

ROAS, it's like, wait a second.

You delivered some sales, but I would have got that sale anyway. or yeah, it was just it was short term, it only happened short term. we spent all this money and I got all these sales, but they didn't exist two weeks later or two weeks

Sri (26:51)

three.

Rich (26:52)

later. But we gotta know that. Like 'cause it's a different approach, right? Again, if it's short term, I'll give you sponsor product, I'll give you search. If it's a longer term, then how do we engage a customer and deliver a different type of value? That's what we're trying to do.

PVSB (27:04)

So Rich, you obviously have access to your sister division Walmart Data Ventures first party data asset and that integrates very closely with with the Walmart Connect component here in the US. Coupled with the Sam's Club membership model specifically, how are you changing the kinds of insights and long-term value that you can offer to advertisers compared to, you know, transaction only data?

Sri (27:31)

Yeah, it's

Rich (27:32)

It's kind of it's a it's a wonderful question and kind of like what we talked about, which is this notion of one-to-one for Sam's Club Connect. this notion of understanding every customer that comes into a club or goes online, understanding their their relationship, they I they pay for that membership. they expect and they deserve the value that comes with that. That can become if you talk about our value proposition is great prices, great assortment. in Sam's Club, it's a more

Curated assortment, Walmart International is a very broader assortment. And then the service notion or the speed of going to get the product. That's what customers want. If you get that right, you have trust. And trust is also about how you operate in your local community, your business practices, it's big. So trust, assortment, price, and that notion of service. You have

Sri (28:15)

We

Rich (28:16)

to deliver that every day, right? And with Sam's Club, knowing that customer, knowing that that value creation is great prices, great assortment, and

making sure we can deliver the service. That becomes a unique selling proposition and how we operate and how we will deliver. And then what that allows us to do from a Sam's Club Connect perspective is, like I said, is that longitudinal in nature of that relationship. So what I what we're talking about is this, what the differentiator is, is and what we can uniquely deliver for Sams Club is this notion of, okay, they had a transaction, did they come back? Did they try something else? Was was were they staying over periods of time?

And then how do we operationalize that over periods of time, which we can help them go do through great data, whether that in international, through all of the data sources we have there, or some of the unique data sets and ways of operating within Sam's Club. and then predict. The go notion is taking that data, understanding the c customer over a long period of time, and then a prediction model to what's going to happen next.

Sri (29:19)

for them.

Rich (29:20)

And then how do we find lookalike to because we want to broaden the pie for them. And that that becomes unique for us.

PVSB (29:25)

So you know that Shri and I have done work with some of the other divisions of Walmart Connect Internationally. We've worked with people in Canada, we've worked with the people in Chile, and I'd love you to be able to kind of comment on the fact that this dissemination of capabilities is not one way from Northwest Arkansas out. There is learning and capabilities that you're bringing and spreading around.

Sri (29:54)

Yeah.

PVSB (29:59)

true. Yeah, there we we love the team down. there. so close. I saw him at the saw him as the gate closed. Bye bye. I'll see ya later. I'm off to Santiago.

Sri (30:11)

go.

Rich (30:12)

That's great point.

the the notion

of that it's not just US to international or to Sam's Club. the uniqueness again, the uniqueness of the markets is really special. And the exciting thing is that there's so much growth. Yeah. there's growth on both sides. And if you think about even our Mexico business, our Mexico business is heavily in store right now and and experiential. versus the digital. W the digital is there and it it's robust but and we're gonna be building even more. But taking the notion of how to how to customers, 'cause it's Mexico

and across our formats, Sam's Club or Bodega or Walmart overall, and building the in-store capabilities, yeah, the engagement capabilities, the value propositions and the measurement, and we're actually taking it into the US because they have they're actually ahead of us in many ways. So think about add Sams Club the experience. So

Sri (31:00)

too.

Rich (31:01)

how do we take those experiences and that knowledge and bring it into Walmart US? Yeah. Those are some of the things that we're thinking about. And also how how they

talk to customers and how they do their segments. In some ways it's been a little different. And so we can bring that up.

PVSB (31:15)

That's

brilliant. Yeah.

Sri (31:17)

Very well

said indeed, Rich. Sure. One of the things I need your help on is figuring out how Sri can get on the podcast at Chile Santiago.

Sri (31:26)

I think I know someone. think I can get that.

Sri (31:28)

In Chile, Santiago I missed out because of four minute loss of

Sri (31:31)

I've

been on that too. They're wonderful.

PVSB (31:33)

When they had their supplier meeting and I was on stage talking with the team, I I don't think your name came up, Shree. I don't know what happened there.

Sri (31:40)

Beat him to the Mexico one, so I think

PVSB (31:42)

I know, we're even.

Sri (31:43)

You know

what? If you want to come back, we're happy. We love you. We're happy to have you.

Sri (31:47)

That said, Rich, let's talk about the lines blurring between media, commerce, and the most important in-store club experience. Again, as I watch this TV wall in front of me, demos is a very important part of what happens in in-store, right? Which of those convergence points is Walmart investing in most importantly right now, growing it, kind of also bringing it back into the media ecosystem that you touch?

Rich (32:13)

I'm excited about the notion of discovery well I'm excited about a lot of things. I'm excited about again the the longitudinal nature. But I think what gets lost is this notion of discovery to purchase

and how do we understand the customer and how do they go from, all right, I've seen a product, I understand a pr what that is, or or maybe I don't even understand what that is. How do I learn about what that is? How do I have experience with it?

And then ultimately buy it. That kind of gets lost a lot and it's very hard to measure. So what we are working on a lot of measurement and a lot of capabilities that can help suppliers again advertisers, I use suppliers, sellers, and advertisers together, so because it can be a multitude of different groups of people and also partners, agencies and partners, wanting to understand that the path to purchase and understanding what comes first.

second, third, and fourth, and it's not the same for every supplier, it's not for the same for every category. But our understanding of the cut the customer or the member is getting better every day. And we're spending a lot of time trying to understand that and trying to prove that out and then giving those insights and helping the sub supplier or advertiser get those insights. I think

Sri (33:21)

I think

Rich (33:22)

what we want to get away from is thinking about just channels.

and thinking about the customer and the experience. How do we move them across experience? Because it shouldn't matter. If it's a search or a display product or it's an in-store product, they matter to some extent. Sometimes suppliers want to just buy channels. What we would recommend to them is really under let's buy journeys and understand the based on the objective. What is the objective they're trying to do? Again, is it a new product that no one's ever heard of? Or it's in a line extension of a product, they know the brand, or it's just like you know, I need share. So what's that?

journey and how do we get them from seeing the product or discovering the product all the way to the purchase and then and then the ongoing loop as I said.

PVSB (34:02)

All right, well I'm gonna close out our conversation really honing in on the future of growth. With Walmart's scale, obvious data superiority and the technology that you've been investing in globally that spans Walmart Connect, your international iterations, and and now the rebranded Sam's Club Connect.

Share with us what your vision for the next big unlock is for advertisers and how do you think about translating that scale into measurable growth for both Walmart and his partners?

Sri (34:35)

Yeah, it's a great.

Rich (34:35)

It it's a great question. and there I like I said, there's lots of ways. For for what I think is really special about this point in time, especially as we have advancements in AI, which is the notion of intelligence. the notion of having so much information and so much data structuring in a way where we can make sense of it. of course we can report on it, we can give you the results. If we you know, in our conversation we're talking about like it's hard to give results, but we're doing that, we're moving towards that.

The next wave is the intelligence. It's not just having the results, but what do do with it, right? how do you take that information and make the next decision and then over time make the next 10 decisions or 20 decisions? Intelligence and information and AI and our hopefully our the genius of us will combine into making this people and technology to come up with new ways to

to engage through that understanding. And I do believe we're doing that, we're moving towards that. Walmart has a foundation and Sam's Club has a foundation in understanding their consumers, engaging against that consumers, having a relationship over periods of time, and then making that actionable over long periods of time. To me, that is that that turning that understanding into growth and and not just for Walmart, but also for our partners that want to work with us and ask us those tough questions.

and figure out how to create that value for the customer or the member. That's super exciting and that's where we're going.

Sri (36:06)

Did you classify PETA also in that genius list?

Sri (36:09)

He's a man.

PVSB (36:10)

don't get me started. I'm the

man. You hear that right there, Sri. You I you can't get rid of

Sri (36:17)

My children.

PVSB (36:18)

You can't quit me.

Sri (36:17)

Well, can't talk

him, but I like, was directed to him. I'll keep you two working together.

It's that, you know, we were talking about the right

Rich (36:25)

long term nature of a relationship.

Sri (36:27)

here. Look at this. We're bringing it to life.

PVSB (36:29)

Sri great conversation here. We're I I think it was worth the way to finally getting rich on the podcast. Of course we told Walmart we wouldn't talk about anyone else until we finally had red. So we finally

Sri (36:39)

Okay, thank you.

PVSB (36:41)

What's your big takeaway?

Sri (36:42)

Very straightforward actually, Peter. Customer obsession. Two words, customer actually three words. Customer obsession is two out of the three. Results is the third. Rich gave a deep down overview of everything comes back to delivering value for the customer at the end of the day. And we must question every action we take with building media, whether it's campaigns, who we target, what kind of value we bring to them back to is it truly a value in the basket?

that they take home. That's what will keep them coming back and build loyalty over time. And you were pretty I think you were as clear as you possibly can on that. And then once that happens, the bias for results, everything should be measured and based on those measurement results, learn what you can, close loop, get more obsessive on the customer. That's how I would summarize it feeler.

PVSB (37:36)

Brilliant. My takeaway is that for a number of years Walmart's international advertising adventures have been I look at them as kind of test and learn based upon the market that they were in. The time was clearly right to bring that connect together.

and plug it into the power source that is known as Walmart Data Ventures and bring advertisers the most robust platform for identifying targeting consumers and figuring out what the right experience was and being able to deliver it and measure against it and that ultimately leads to outcomes. So Rich, we really appreciate you taking time out of your busy CAN schedule to sit down with us. Please don't be a stranger. Don't make it another 600 plus episodes.

Sri (38:27)

I love you guys. Again, part of the

Rich (38:30)

You part of the family,

as you said. You are part of Walmart Connect. You're part of Sam's Club Connect. you have been integral into our success and hopefully we've been a little part of your success. you are part of the family. you are well taken care of. you know every

Sri (38:44)

you had all the people on

Rich (38:46)

and your ranking of podcasts are probably in there somewhere. so

Sri (38:49)

me.

You didn't need me.

PVSB (38:50)

Walmart does occupy a a very large percentage of our time.

Sri (38:54)

Somewhat glad we waited to have you on this post six hundred edition of ours because the role that you have now is a first for the for first for all of Walmart retail in general. And having it's a very unique glimpse and eyesight into building something truly connected. Right. Get get that pun.

So so I think having that unique role means you can truly take experience that you have from the US and now spread it globally also into Sam's Connect.

Sri (39:26)

Yeah, sorry.

Rich (39:27)

I know it's the end,

but the teams are incredible in Sam's Club Connect and in International. They're so smart, they're so again that this this customer obsession you talked about, caring about our suppliers and our sellers and caring about the ultimate customer or the member is ingrained in who we are as Walmart. You know, everybody knows that's what it is, and we're taking that obsession and now building on it as one global team. Yep. That's

Sri (39:51)

so

excited.

Rich (39:51)

exciting

and the the opportunities are and great and we can speed up what we're doing and then we can do it the right way and that to me is super excited to be part of this and the new branding of Sams Club Connect just builds on top of that as one one team.

PVSB (40:06)

No, we we absolutely love, as we've said, working with with the Walmart people. Though we do have a bone to pick with this Harvey Ma fellow. We'll talk about that. No, Harvey, we love you.

Sri (40:15)

We love you, Harvey

PVSB (40:16)

One of our favorites. To our listeners and to the over 45,000 followers on LinkedIn, thank you for doing what you do every day, whether you're building brands, maybe driving retail partnerships, deploying technology, or shaping the future of commerce, you are the industry we cover, and this podcast exists because of you. If today's conversation sparks something for you, a new idea, maybe a fresh perspective, or just a reminder of why this industry is worth showing up for every day, share it. Tag us, tell a colleague. The more voice

We bring into this community, the sharper all of us get. Until next time, keep pushing the conversation forward. I'm PVSB, and on behalf of my co-host Papa Entourage, this has been the CPG Guys Podcast. Goodbye.