The CPG Guys

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Rich Lehrfeld, SVP and General Manager of Walmart Connect International and Sam's Club Connect, the retail media business units of Walmart.

This episode was recorded in France at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Follow Rich on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-lehrfeld-776b7786/

Follow Walmart Connect online at: https://www.walmartconnect.com/

Follow Sam's Club Connect online at: https://www.samsclubconnect.com/

Rich answers these questions:

1. Now that you’re leading Walmart Connect alongside International advertising and Sam’s Club Connect, what does “one connected global advertising ecosystem” actually look like operationally — and how soon will advertisers feel the difference?

2. What capabilities or playbooks from Walmart Connect US are you most excited to bring into international markets, and conversely, what can Connect and international teach the core US business?

3. This is Sam’s Club Connect’s first time at Cannes Lions — what’s the headline message you want advertisers and agencies to walk away with?

4. How does a presence at Cannes fit into COnnect’s broader growth strategy, especially as it scales offerings like in-club, Omni Experiences, and audio/fuel screen ads?

5. The industry conversation is shifting from impressions and ROAS toward broader business outcomes — what does that shift look like in practice for how Walmart structures its advertiser partnerships?

6. What’s the biggest misconception brands still have about what “success” should look like in retail media today?

7. How does Walmart’s first-party data — and Sam’s Club’s membership model specifically — change the kinds of insights and long-term value you can offer advertisers compared to transaction-only data?

8. Where do you see the lines blurring most between media, commerce, and in-store/in-club experience — and which of those convergence points is Walmart investing in most aggressively right now?

9. With Walmart’s scale, data, and tech now spanning Walmart Connect, International, and Sam’s Club Connect, what’s your vision for the next big unlock for advertisers — and how do you think about translating that scale into measurable growth for both Walmart and your partners?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

Each week, the CPG Guys will riff on the hottest topics in the world of omnichannel commerce. 

This week’s topics:

• Utz Brands going private
• Kraft Heinz partners with Disney
• Nestle selling half of water portfolio
• Cinven acquiring Salsify

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

In this episode, the CPG Guys are joined by Mark Williamson, AVP of Retail Media at Costco, the world’s largest club format omnichannel retailer. 

Follow Mark on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkwilliamson/

Follow Costco Retail Media on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/costco-retail-media/

Follow Costco online at: https://www.costco.com/f/-/company-information

Mark answers these questions:

1. So Mark, let’s kick it off with the big news that completely shocked the industry. At recent industry events, you took the stage and did what almost no other Retail Media Network does: you completely exposed Costco's full technology stack—revealing every single identity vendor, DSP, and clean room provider you use. Why did you make the deliberate choice to embrace absolute transparency, and how has that transparency directly influenced ad spend from skeptical brands and agencies?
2. Transparency builds the ultimate trust, no doubt. Now Mark, you have a beautiful phrase that we absolutely love: "Retail media at Costco exists to accelerate merchandise sales." You maintain a strict structural hierarchy where merchandise velocity and member loyalty sit firmly at the very top. If a digital ad campaign doesn't help move a physical pallet of product or reinforce the value of a membership card, it simply doesn't belong in your ecosystem. How do you enforce this "merchant-first" philosophy when national brand managers come in with legacy KPIs focused entirely on vanity ad metrics?
3.  Pallet velocity over vanity metrics every single day of the week! Mark, let's talk about your unique "Last-Mover Advantage." While other networks rushed to stand up brittle, overly complicated platforms out of the gate, Costco spent its time quietly observing the market and engineering a robust private data cloud from the ground up. How did waiting and prioritizing a clean, unfragmented data foundation allow you to completely leapfrog the "black box" reporting traps that have frustrated CPG teams for years?
4. That backend data foundation is the real secret sauce. Let’s look at a highly disruptive offsite capability you recently rolled out: Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs). This isn’t typical offsite audience extension or standard Connected TV (CTV) storytelling; you are moving Costco's first-party retail media directly into Google Shopping search. For the brands listening, why does leveraging Costco’s high-intent audience data inside Google's open shopping engine radically perform better than a brand trying to buy those generic keywords on their own?
5. Tying high-intent open web search to verified warehouse data is a game-changer. Mark, let's look at what you call "In Real Life" (IRL) Activation—the third pillar of your omni-channel media strategy. Costco's physical club warehouses are legendary for their high-frequency, massive-basket foot traffic. How are you taking real-world, physical-store signals—everything from fuel pumps to warehouse digital screens—and dynamically connecting them back into a single, cohesive digital loop?
6. Physical-digital loop integration is exactly where the massive volume lies. Mark, let's talk about building a Composable Architecture. Your technical setup is intentionally designed as a cohesive orchestration layer where identity, activation, and clean room metrics can evolve independently without disrupting the core business. Why should global CPG technology heads stop trying to build rigid, custom end-to-end stacks and instead adopt Costco's modular, composable blueprint?
7. Composable modularity is the ultimate future-proofing play. Mark, we are rapidly entering the "Agentic Era" of commerce, where autonomous AI agents are beginning to manage complex segmentation, path recommendations, and real-time budget optimization behind the scenes. How is Costco utilizing advanced AI orchestration layers to cut through operational friction, making your complex, multi-partner systems intuitive and highly usable for brand teams?
8. AI-driven demand generation is going to separate the winners from the laggards. Let's double-click down on The Merchant-Media Collaboration Loop. In many traditional retail environments, the media network operates as an isolated, outside fiefdom that frequently causes friction with the actual category merchants. At Costco, you have deliberately fused media capability directly into the merchandising lifecycle. Can you take us under the hood of that internal relationship? How do your media specialists work harmoniously alongside the warehouse buyers to drive mutual top-line growth?
9. Tying the merchant loop directly to the ad stack is how you achieve sustainable scale. Mark, Costco is world-renowned for its hyper-curated, disciplined product assortment—you don’t carry 50 versions of an item; you carry the absolute best value selections. How does this strict, limited-SKU club environment fundamentally change the digital shelf auction on your onsite properties? Does a highly curated box mean that retail media real estate on Costco is infinitely more valuable and defensive for an incumbent brand?
10. Highly curated spaces demand highly precise execution. Alright Mark, final question for today, and we want to send our global practitioner audience home with an absolute golden nugget of advice. If you could look a corporate CPG Chief Customer Officer or Head of Sales dead in the eye today, what is the single biggest "reality check" or piece of blind-spot advice you can give them to help them stop treating retail media as a lower-funnel marketing tax and instead unlock true, closed-loop incremental volume this quarter?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Ali Miller, GM of Advertising and Tim Castelli, VP Global Ad Sales at Instacart.

This episode was recorded in France at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Follow Ali on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/about-ali-miller/

Follow Tim on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcastelli/

Follow Instacart Ads online at: https://company.instacart.com/ads

Ali & Tim answer these questions:

1. So Ali, let’s kick it off with you on a massive macro trend. We just read Nik Modi's latest RBC Capital report, Modi’s Musings Volume 4, and theme number one is that Cultural Relevance > Brand Equity—meaning scale alone doesn’t protect you anymore; you have to turn online platforms into an active "economic substrate" for identity and transaction flow. How is Instacart evolving its ad tech stack to let legacy CPG giants quickly move at the speed of a viral TikTok trend or cultural moment, turning immediate social media inspiration into a converted grocery basket? 
2. That speed to conversion is everything. Tim, let’s talk about some news you announced at Cannes this week. Let’s start with your AI Shopping assistant. What makes Instacart’s AI assistant different?
3. As consumers look to collapse choice complexity because of low mental energy and rising anxiety, the visible shelf is shrinking from 50+ items down to 1 or 2 AI-curated recommendations. How does this radically compressed digital real estate change your ad business strategy and Joint Business Plans with brands? You mentioned you're intentionally not running ads in AI experiences yet. Walk us through how you’re thinking about that. 
4. Jumping back to the news…Immersive Feed feels like a direct response to how consumers are already discovering food on social media. How do you make sure that experience feels additive and not just like another ad unit? Does this foreshadow more to come with media publishers and creators? 
5. And for Ads Studio – is that essentially opening up Instacart's own marketing engine to brand partners? What made you confident enough in that internal capability to turn it into a commercial offering?
6. Tim, let’s pivot to New Revenue Streams and Business Models. CPG brands are desperately trying to evolve from old-school, unit-driven transactional models toward ecosystem-based monetization. With Instacart Caper Carts rolling out smart screens right into the physical brick-and-mortar aisles, you guys have built a literal physical-digital loop. How should brands rethink co-created, real-time physical store experiences using your connected hardware?
7. Connected hardware in the physical aisle is the ultimate frontier. Ali, we can't talk about Cannes Lions without talking about Closed-Loop Measurement. Marketers are completely burnt out on self-attributed platform metrics. Instacart’s entire value proposition is anchored on receipt-level, purchase-verified deterministic truth. For the brand marketers listening who are caught in the "Validation Trap," what does mathematically clean, independent attribution look like over the next three years, and how does Instacart enforce it?
8. If it doesn't move actual volume off the shelf, it’s just noise. Tim, looking at your front-row seat to enterprise sales, what separates the North Star CPG brands—the progressive companies that are aggressively growing their volume share on Instacart right now—from the legacy laggards who are still trying to run 20-year-old, static, distribution-only playbooks? What core corporate competency or operational rhythm allows them to win?
9. Incredible, provocative insights. Now, before we pack up the mics and head out onto the Croisette for a glass of rosé, we have to save a special final question. Cannes Lions is famously the birthplace of massive, landscape-shifting partnership announcements and enterprise platform reveals. Ali, Tim... what do you guys have cooking up under the hood for Instacart that you can uniquely share with the CPG Guys community live today?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

Each week, the CPG Guys will riff on the hottest topics in the world of omnichannel commerce. 

This week’s topics:

• Kroger & Cola-Cola to launch exclusive LTO
• Big food running out of moves
• Costco opening stand-alone gas stations
• More Walmart executive shuffles

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

This episode was recorded in France at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and features a panel called “How Retail Media Becomes a Growth Engine” which was produced by EMarketer and sponsored by Sensor Tower, featuring Albertsons Media Collectives' Liz Roche, Omnicom's Claudia Johnson,  EMarketer's Sarah Marzano, Goodway Group's Angela Myers & Bain & Co's Shweta Bhardwaj.

Following Liz Roche on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eroche1

Follow Sarah Marzano on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahzmarzano

Follow Claudia Johnson on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-johnson-b133436

Follow Angela Myers on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-myers-2257aa1

Follow Shweta Bhardwaj on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhardwajshweta

Follow EMarketer online at: http://emarketer.com

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Deepak Maini, SVP and GM of Walmart +, Walmart’s membership program helping members save more time & money with exclusive benefits. 

Follow Deepak on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-maini-49b9089/

Follow Walmart+ online at: https://www.walmart.com/plus

Deepak answers these questions:

1. Walmart+ has grown from 3 benefits at launch to 12 today — still at $98 a year. How does that expanding benefit stack change the behavior of the Walmart+ member in ways that matter to CPG brand partners — in terms of basket size, purchase frequency, and category loyalty?
2. Walmart reaches 150 million shoppers every week across ecommerce and 4,600 stores, with data mapped to the SKU level. How does Walmart+ membership amplify the quality and fidelity of that first-party data signal — and how should CPG brands be thinking about activating against it differently than they do with non-member data?
3. Before running Walmart+, you led the VP/GM role for Customer Digital Identity and Data Platform at Walmart. How does a logged-in, identified Walmart+ member change the economics of the digital shelf for CPG brands, particularly as agentic commerce and AI-powered discovery reshape how shoppers find products?
4. The honest question your CPG audience wants answered: when brand partners think about their joint value creation with Walmart, how should they be weighting Walmart+ member households versus non-member households in their investment strategies? Is the gap in lifetime value as dramatic as what your major online competition has seen with their loyalty subscription program?
5. The addition of Peacock to Walmart+‘s streaming choices drove a record number of sign-ups in Q3. What does entertainment engagement tell you about a member’s overall relationship with the Walmart ecosystem — and does streaming behavior surface any insights that CPG partners can act on?
6. Walmart Connect grew 33% in the U.S. last quarter, representing, along with membership fees, about a third of Walmart’s operating income . How tight is the integration between Walmart+ membership data and the Walmart Connect advertising platform — and what does that mean for a CPG brand trying to close the loop from impression to in-store purchase?
7. Walmart tested its first advertising formats tied to the Sparky AI shopping agent in fall 2025, with 81% of surveyed Walmart customers saying they’d used Sparky to check product availability and review specs before buying . How do you think about Walmart+ membership as a foundation for agentic shopping — and what does that mean for how CPG brands show up in those AI-mediated discovery moments?
8. Walmart has publicly highlighted share gains with upper-income households as a strategic priority. Does Walmart+ skew toward those households — and if so, what does that mean for premium CPG brands that may have historically underinvested at Walmart?
9. You ran Fire TV, Alexa Skills, and Amazon Music — all businesses that lived at the intersection of media, identity, and commerce. What’s the most important thing you brought from that Amazon experience that directly shaped how you’re building Walmart+?
10. Walmart+ is five years old. If you fast-forward five more years, what does the relationship between Walmart+ membership and CPG brand investment look like — and what should brand and agency leaders be doing right now to position themselves for that future?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

Each week, the CPG Guys will riff on the hottest topics in the world of omnichannel commerce. 

This week’s topics:

• PepsiCo Q2 Results
• Smucker’s Twinkies Problem
• Walmart Summer Rollbacks
• Wakefern is SN’s retailer of the Year

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Chris Riedy, Chief Revenue Officer at Ibotta and Yeimy Garcia Smith, SVP, Global Measurement and Enablement at Circana. Ibotta is is a performance marketing platform allowing brands to deliver digital promotions to over 200 million consumers through a network of called the Ibotta Performance Network. 

This episode is sponsored by Ibotta and was recorded in Cannes Francine at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Follow Chris on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisriedy

Follow Ibotta online at: http://ibotta.com

Follow Yeimy online at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yeimy

Chris and Yeimy answer these questions:

1. From Circana's macro perspective, where does the traditional measurement infrastructure break down first in this fluid loop?
2. Are you guys competing, complementing, or building a completely distinct layer of demand? 
3. Where do brand equity investment and performance investment harmoniously meet in this modern loop, and how do you ensure one isn't starving the other?
4. What does trustworthy, mathematically sound measurement actually look like in 2026, and why is it an absolute baseline requirement right now?
5. When you listen to CPG brands express their deep frustrations with modern attribution models, what is the core complaint you hear, and how do you define "trustworthy truth" to a skeptical CMO?
6. Yeimy, what does it mean for the industry that promotions can now be evaluated on equal footing with media? And Chris, for a brand CMO sitting here at Cannes today, how should this change the way they think about where promotions sit in their investment mix?
7. Yeimy, when Circana runs the numbers across the entire consumer staples landscape, what unexpected, baseline operational traits do a legacy multi-billion-dollar giant and an agile, emerging challenger brand have in common when it comes to capturing actual volume growth today?
8. Chris, expanding on that, when Ibotta double-clicks down on a hyper-growth challenger brand like Chomps — which Circana crowned a Growth Leader and which has blockbuster velocity across the IPN — the independent Circana Household Lift study told a striking story: households exposed to the Ibotta campaign outperformed the snacking category household penetration benchmark by 9x. What does that kind of new buyer acquisition data reveal about how challenger brands should think about promotions as a growth lever, beyond the traditional discount mechanic? 
9. If you two could completely re-architect the ideal measurement infrastructure from the ground up for a CPG brand trying to successfully navigate the next three years, what does that blueprint look like, and exactly who needs to be in the corporate room to enforce it?
10. For a CPG brand CMO or commercial executive sitting in this room today who leaves Cannes and has to make one decisive change to how they evaluate, measure, or deploy capital across the commerce funnel this quarter—what is the single piece of practitioner advice you would give them? Yeimy, you first, then Chris.

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Christine Gambino, CEO of Omni, Omnicom's next-generation marketing and sales intelligence platform. It connects strategy, creativity, media, CRM, commerce, data, and AI to help brands grow with greater clarity, speed, and measurable business impact.

Follow Christine on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-gambino-59683ab8

Follow Omni online at: https://www.omc.com/omni/

Christine answers these questions:

1. Christine, you came up through Flywheel — one of the most commerce-native organizations in the industry — and now you're operating at the platform level as CEO of Omni. What did that journey from commerce practitioner to enterprise platform operator teach you about what CPG brands actually need from a marketing intelligence system?
2. Your move from Flywheel to Omni was a deliberate cross-capability appointment. What was the mandate when you stepped into the CEO role, and what did you see as the biggest operational gaps you needed to close?
3. At CES you demonstrated Omni live — walking through a campaign brief in real time, from media budget breakdowns to synthetic audiences to creator suggestions. For a CPG brand team watching that demo, what's the "aha moment" you're trying to create? In other words, What should click for them?
4. You've been clear that Omni is additive, not a replacement — your words were: "It's meant to give real-time insights to teams and brands through our agentic environment." For CPG marketers who are worried about what AI means for their jobs, how do you make that case authentically, not just rhetorically?
5. Omni now integrates Acxiom's 2.6 billion consumer profiles, Flywheel Commerce Cloud, and IPG's data and technology assets. That's a massive data convergence. How are you ensuring that consolidation creates clarity and speed for CPG clients rather than complexity?
6. Omni is reported as having 41+ frontier LLM models and 24,000 monthly active users across 77 countries. What does it actually mean operationally to manage a platform at that scale — and how do you govern consistency of outputs when so many models and markets are in play?
7. Flywheel's Commerce Cloud is described as the largest digital transaction data set in the world. Now fused into Omni, that commerce signal is live inside a broader marketing intelligence platform. For a CPG brand running retail media across Amazon, Walmart, and a dozen other RMNs, how does that change what's possible from a targeting and measurement standpoint?
8. Omni includes what you're calling "Return on Consumer" — tracking consumer progression through Opportunity, Awareness, Interest, Purchase, and Loyalty — rather than just campaign metrics. That's a fundamental reframe. How ready are CPG brand teams to actually buy into that measurement model, and what's holding back adoption?
9. There's a real tension in the industry right now between AI as efficiency play and AI as growth driver. Omnicom's own data points to 25-55% faster production times. But CPG CMOs are being asked to prove incrementality, not just efficiency. How does Omni help brands make that leap from "we're saving money" to "we're growing share"?
10. GEO — Generative Engine Optimization — is becoming a major conversation as AI-driven search displaces traditional keyword rankings. Omni appears to have a point of view here through AI Optix on the PR side. How is the broader Omni platform thinking about brand visibility in an era where the algorithm deciding what consumers see isn't Google anymore?
11. You are sitting at the intersection of the largest data asset in advertising, the largest commerce platform, and a next-gen agentic interface. If you had to name the one capability that CPG brands are most dramatically under-utilizing today — what would it be, and why?
12. Christine, you came from Flywheel, which has deep roots in CPG. What's your message to the brand leaders, the commerce managers, and the retail media practitioners in our audience about what Omni means for them specifically — not for the holding company, but for them, in their day-to-day work?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.