Diana Finster on bringing Walmart Connect’s retail media intelligence to the open internet
Welcome to Innovators Unscripted, a series where we share unfiltered insights from some of the most disruptive voices in today’s advertising ecosystem. Diana Finster, VP of partnerships at Walmart Connect, joins for a conversation about extending shopper intelligence across the open internet, making streaming TV accessible at scale, and what it takes to build a lasting partnership.
Here are the takeaways that stuck with us.
Shopper intelligence is connecting the full consumer journey
A shopper might see a product on TV, look it up online days later, and finally buy it in the store over the weekend—a journey that in the past would have been difficult to follow as one continuous story. Diana says extending shopper intelligence across the open internet means finally tracing that full, non-linear journey across every touchpoint.
Walmart’s reach already spans 4,600 stores and 150 million people who shop online and in-store every week. It now extends to the TV screen with Vizio, whose operating system runs on millions of TVs across the US and gives Walmart Connect direct access to premium streaming inventory.
Walmart’s Backyard Escapes campaign is proof of what that expanded reach can do. It started with insights around outdoor transformations and grew into a campaign that spanned from the Vizio TV screen to the store itself, built entirely by Walmart’s in-house studio, Lightbox Creative. The campaign drove nearly 50% new shoppers in-store.
“Walmart is truly unique. Nobody else has the footprint.”
Diana Finster, VP of Partnerships
Walmart Connect
Connect Select brings retail media’s precision to streaming TV
Streaming TV has long been a high-friction channel, forcing brands to buy, execute, and measure differently than the rest of their media, often without a way to connect it back to the rest of the shopper journey. Connect Select, Walmart’s curated marketplace built with Index and other supply partners, solves that directly. It surfaces premium streaming inventory aligned to a brand’s actual campaign goals, so media buyers can activate it more easily and measure it consistently alongside every other touchpoint.
“All of those different opportunities make CTV and streaming so much easier for brands to take advantage of than it ever was possible, across the entire shopper journey.”
Diana Finster, VP of Partnerships
Walmart Connect
Brand and performance budgets don’t have to live in silos anymore
For years, brand and performance marketing meant separate teams working toward separate goals with separate budgets. Diana sees that divide closing. With shopper intelligence spanning the open internet, marketers can now understand and measure the full consumer journey and optimize brand and performance together.
Those insights create the most value when paired with compelling creative. After all, creative is what consumers ultimately see and respond to, whether they’re streaming TV, browsing online, or shopping in-store. The brands that connect intelligence, measurement, and creative will be the ones that win.
“Gone are the times where it was brand or performance. You need to bring these things together.”
Diana Finster, VP of Partnerships
Walmart Connect
Retail media’s connected shopper journey isn’t theoretical anymore
For Diana, the most exciting part of retail media’s evolution is that the connected shopper journey has gone from aspirational idea to reality. The technology now exists to connect awareness, consideration, and conversion across the full consumer journey. Working alongside partners like Index, Walmart Connect can extend those capabilities across the open internet, giving brands a clearer picture of how their marketing drives results.
That progress is why Diana is optimistic about where programmatic and the open internet are headed next. After years of imagining what’s possible, the industry can finally deliver it. And as innovation continues, the opportunities for brands will only keep growing.
See how streaming TV opens up new audiences and powers performance for brand marketers.
