When consumers think of Walmart as a brand, “innovative” may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But while speaking at a session at MMA Global’s POSSIBLE conference earlier this month, CMO William White aimed to dispel that myth, providing several examples of how the company is innovating across the board—despite its mammoth size. “You see it in all manner of our business, from supply chain to how we go to market,” he told the crowd. “Innovation is popping up in different parts of the company at all times.”

Take being the first retailer to offer drone delivery service, or rolling out a new open creator platform, called Walmart Creator, which, through influencer collaborations, incentivizes users to scale their businesses and drive sales. Each innovation, White explained, ties back to the brand’s relentless focus on how consumer expectations are evolving.

“Our business is fast,” he said. “We run from groceries to apparel to healthcare to financial services, et cetera. So we're looking across a variety of industries for, what are the things that are moving the needle? What are the things that are attracting customers? What are the things that are raising their expectations? And that's done on a global scale.” Here are our takeaways from the discussion, which delved into Walmart’s recent initiatives, insights from the retail marketing space, the importance of social commerce, and more.

About that innovation… The results of our AI in Marketing Pulse Survey are in: 51 percent of marketers surveyed are using generative AI tools to drive the business, and 23 percent use them frequently. Check out this infographic featuring five data points from the poll.

Lastly, amid the post-cookie digital marketing landscape, data clean rooms have risen in importance as a means of extracting value from user data while protecting consumer privacy preferences. But for marketers new to the concept, evaluating the variety of options that exist in the space today could feel a bit overwhelming. Here’s what newbies to data clean rooms should know.

Until next time,

Kaylee Hultgren
Editor
Chief Marketer

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