Latest / Retail Media Breakfast Club / Sam's Club Races To Win Retail Media Network Share Through Experiences
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- [Monday Sept 8] Sam's Club Races To Win RMN Share Through Experiences === [00:00:00] Kiri Masters: Standing in the parking lot of a Sam's Club store in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Last Friday, I watched something unusual unfold at what the company calls Race to the Club, one of several dozen local activations they've run this year. While a [00:00:15] country band played nearby, a family was inside a mobile Vizio showroom. [00:00:20] Not just looking at the display TVs, but actually buying one. And I found out later that four units sold that afternoon alone. [00:00:30] This wasn't a pop-up store or a brand activation, it was Sam's Club's retail media network in action, orchestrating what might be the most radical re-imagining of retail media I've seen. [00:00:42] But this event in the car lot was [00:00:45] building towards something much bigger. Two days later, Sam's Club activated its sponsorship of Andrei Auto Sport at the IndyCar season finale in Nashville. The company's first retail media activation of this scale. While [00:01:00] most retail media networks battle for digital shelf space and sponsored product placements, Sam's Club is taking its advertising dollars to racetracks. [00:01:08] Country music, concerts and county fairs. Harvey Ma, who leads Sam's Club's member access platform [00:01:15] calls it experiential meets performance, and he's betting big on it. [00:01:20] This article was originally published for my column on forbes.com on Tuesday, September two. [00:01:26] [00:01:27] Kiri Masters: What makes Sam's Club's approach unique [00:01:30] isn't just that they're at a racing event. Plenty of brands activate at sports venues. The difference lies in the structure. Sam's Club holds the master sponsorship with Andre Auto Sport, then orchestrates activation opportunities for its [00:01:45] supplier brands. [00:01:46] For this particular event, it included members, mark, which is Sam's Club's house brand, Vizio, Tyson, Fantic, ePRO Select, and clearly Canadian who all participated in race to the club. This [00:02:00] retailer as Orchestrator model diverges sharply from traditional sponsorships. [00:02:05] For example, circle K partners with the Major League Baseball for its Strikeout Rewards program, and that is a single brand play Free [00:02:15] Polar Pops when the teams hit milestones. And when brands like Celsius or Paxon Activate at the F1 race, they negotiate their presence individually. Sam's Club flips this model entirely. [00:02:28] They secure the sponsorship [00:02:30] centrally. Then create a coordinated ecosystem where multiple brands can engage with members under the Sam's Club umbrella. [00:02:37] But it goes beyond simply having your brand's logo on the car. The localized activations showcase what MA calls [00:02:45] purchasable moments, opportunities where products aren't just advertised, but demonstrated, sampled, and sold on the spot at the car Lot event. A Vizio wrapped RV showcased new TV screens. A prize wheel offered chances to win. [00:02:59] [00:03:00] ePRO, vacuum cleaners and fantic air pumps were used in live demonstrations. Race cast simulators. Drew in a crowd with Sands Club members given fast lean access. [00:03:10] Outside of just driving brand awareness, when you ask for what's in it for a brand partner, [00:03:15] we actually sell things on the floor. Ma told me he pointed to vacuum cleaner demonstrations as an example. What better way to sell a vacuum cleaner? They actually spill things on the floor and actually vacuum things up. [00:03:28] This represents a [00:03:30] shift from passive advertising to active engagement. They aren't just impressions. They're experiences that drive immediate conversion while building brand affinity. The sophistication shows in the details those race cast simulators for families. The prize [00:03:45] wheels with product giveaways and Kyle Kirkwood. [00:03:47] Sam's Club's IndyCar driver serving as a spokesperson for everything from tire services to fresh pizza delivery. Sure you're crushing it. [00:04:00] Sure. You're crushing Sure. You're crushing it on Amazon and Walmart. But what about Kroger, Instacart, and the fast growing regional grocers? [00:04:10] A Costa Group builds holistic media plans on real shopper behavior [00:04:15] across all the US retailers that your brand cares about. from digital shelf to retail media to data analytics, Acosta Group offers end-to-end connected commerce all under one roof. Learn more at [00:04:30] ACOA Group and tell them Retail Media Breakfast Club sent you. [00:04:34] That's a C OS T group. Unlike typical brand activations aimed at Awareness Sands Club connects each touch point [00:04:45] to membership acquisition and retention at the Wilson County Fair. Preceding the race new plus membership signups included free race tickets, effectively making the ticket value double the membership cost. [00:04:56] This 360 degree integration extends from [00:05:00] offsite at the race village to in club, through sampling stations and digital screens to digital channels like dedicated landing pages and the scan and go app integration. Each scan of a member id, whether at the Race [00:05:15] Village Ink Club, or through the app feeds longitudinal data that connects experiential moments to actual purchases over time. [00:05:23] This closed loop measurement allows brands to allocate spend, not just from their brand building bucket, but as a performance marketing [00:05:30] channel too. [00:05:30] Mars ambitions extend far beyond racing. Having already run a couple dozen similar localized events and now completing their first major sponsorship activation, he sees massive potential for growth. [00:05:42] He told me he plans to five x [00:05:45] these large scale events in 2026. But it's more than just about events. It's about imagining how retail media can intersect with human experience. [00:05:55] Particularly in real life, he says of the scan and go technology within [00:06:00] the Sam's Club app as an example, that he wants that to become more of a companion versus just a scan tool. Envisioning features like store routing, product pairing suggestions and location finders that make the technology genuinely helpful rather than [00:06:15] intrusive. [00:06:15] And that philosophy permeates the entire approach in the Andretti Hospitality tent at the Grand Finale beverages from CPG brand. Clearly Canadian sat alongside Beverages from members Mark. Subtle but strategic product placement [00:06:30] that feels natural rather than forced. [00:06:32] MA wouldn't be pushing for such aggressive expansion without demonstrated results. While Sands Club doesn't disclose financial results from its retail media business, ma told me that advertiser demand exceeded available [00:06:45] partnership slots for race to the club and the IndyCar events for brands. The appeal is clear access to engaged members in memorable settings with sophisticated measurement proving ROI at the individual level. [00:06:57] This approach also addresses Mars broader [00:07:00] mission, preventing retail media from what he's previously called, attacks on brands By creating genuine value through experiential engagement, rather than just another required ad spend map is positioning itself differently to other RMNs as AI [00:07:15] enabled shopping behaviors take hold, and digital advertising becomes increasingly automated. In-person experiences will likely become more valuable, not less. Sam's Club's approach suggests that retail media's future might not be about choosing between digital and [00:07:30] physical, but orchestrating both into something entirely new with Mars five x growth target for 2026, we're about to find out if this vision can scale. [00:07:40]