Walmart Connect touts creativity-powered commerce at Cannes Lions
Walmart Connect’s Cannes pitch was really a store-floor story: more shoppable ads can mean more display resets, inventory juggling and customer questions for Walmart teams.
On June 23 in Cannes, France, Walmart Connect and VIZIO showcased a creativity-powered commerce strategy built around fully integrated, shoppable experiences on the biggest screen in the home. The approach blends storytelling with measurable outcomes, and it points to Big Game, Summer of Soccer, Back to School and the holiday season as the campaign moments where that blend matters most.
A campaign tied to a specific item or season shows up as more promoted merchandise, faster seasonal reset deadlines, tighter inventory coordination and more customers asking for products they saw on TV or on a connected device. Walmart’s in-house Lightbox Creative Solutions studio connects social storytelling, in-store activations and connected TV, moving the same campaign from a screen in the living room to an endcap, a feature display and a shelf tag inside the store.
The Cannes push also fit into a broader advertising strategy Walmart laid out the day before. Its global advertising revenue grew 37% in its most recent quarter, while Walmart Connect U.S. rose 44% excluding VIZIO. Walmart is folding its U.S., international and Sam’s Club ad businesses into a more unified system under Chief Growth Officer Seth Dallaire to give advertisers a more consistent experience across channels.
Walmart’s VIZIO deal has become central to that plan. The retailer completed its acquisition of VIZIO on Dec. 3, 2024, and by the March 23 NewFronts, Walmart and VIZIO were tying high-impact storytelling to retail behavior and closed-loop measurement. On May 28, Walmart opened access to VIZIO inventory through Yahoo DSP using Magnite’s supply-side technology.
The company added another piece on June 23 when it announced plans to acquire Vibe.co, a self-serve connected TV advertising platform for SMB and mid-market brands. Its 2026 Partner Awards added a full-funnel activation category covering onsite, offsite and in-store campaigns, and Walmart says advertisers using partners can see up to 28% higher return on ad spend.
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