Why CTV belongs in the modern Walmart Connect JBP

Walmart Connect Joint Business Plans (JBPs) have long provided brands with access to onsite and offsite media, audience capabilities and closed-loop measurement. The opportunity today is to use those agreements more strategically.

As brands look to drive growth across the consumer journey, JBP conversations are increasingly focused on how to combine Walmart Connect’s core media capabilities with commercial rates, test-and-learn investments, measurement plans and participation in emerging alpha and beta opportunities.

That shift allows a Walmart Connect JBP to become more than an annual media commitment. It can serve as a shared growth plan, with the right mix of investment, capabilities and learning opportunities aligned to a brand’s goals.

Connected TV (CTV) is becoming an increasingly important part of that conversation. Walmart’s investments in VIZIO and recent acquisition of Vibe reflect a broader effort to expand how brands can reach Walmart audiences across the streaming environment, while connecting that exposure back to commerce outcomes.

For brands, this creates a more timely opportunity to consider CTV within the Walmart Connect JBP. When included as part of a connected commerce strategy, CTV can reach priority consumers before the shopping moment and support Walmart Connect media activity that helps convert demand closer to purchase.

A successful Walmart Connect CTV plan starts with a clear channel role, a deliberate investment strategy and a connected approach to media, creative and measurement.

Evaluate the CTV opportunity within the JBP

Every Walmart Connect JBP involves a set of choices: where to concentrate investment, which capabilities will support the brand’s growth priorities, and what the agreement should help the team learn over time.

The strongest agreements pair foundational media support with benefits that advance a specific business objective, such as reaching a new consumer segment, supporting a launch, improving measurement or testing an emerging channel. That makes the JBP a portfolio decision, with each investment and benefit evaluated for its potential to create meaningful growth.

A useful way to assess a JBP is to separate table stakes from go gets.

Table stakes are the foundational benefits a brand should expect with a meaningful investment. They make the plan operational, including standard reporting, access to core media products, basic audience capabilities, and participation in key retail moments.

Go gets are the differentiated benefits that can improve performance, unlock new capabilities, or create learning that strengthens future investment decisions. These may include exclusive access to new ad formats, advanced audiences, measurement opportunities, or dedicated test budgets.

For the full framework, read our guide to designing JBPs that work for your brand.

For a CTV-focused Walmart Connect JBP, high-value go gets may include:

• An incremental CTV test budget or added-value investment

• Access to Walmart’s 1:1 consumer targeting, supporting precise new-to-brand acquisition, conquesting and cross-sell strategies informed by Walmart consumer data

• A defined closed-loop measurement plan

• Creative testing support, flexibility to rotate assets and production support for brands that need help developing CTV-ready creative

• A cross-channel readout that connects CTV exposure to Walmart outcomes

• Clear learning goals tied to future investment decisions

CTV delivers greater strategic value when the JBP pairs the placement with audience strategy, creative, measurement and a defined test-and-learn plan.

CTV has a distinct job in the Walmart growth system

Walmart Connect onsite media serves consumers who are already searching, browsing or preparing to purchase. CTV extends the plan earlier in the journey, reaching priority audiences before they enter the digital shelf. That role can be particularly valuable during:

• New product launches

• Seasonal and tentpole moments

• Category expansion efforts

• Premium product introductions

• Retail distribution expansions

• Campaigns designed to reach new consumer segments

CTV also gives brands an opportunity to show up in culturally relevant moments, from major series and live sports to news and other high-attention programming.

As the largest screen in the home, with one ad and one piece of content commanding attention at a time, CTV creates a context that differs from more crowded digital environments. The programming, moment and audience should all inform how the brand shows up.

Together, these channels can create a more connected Walmart media system: CTV builds familiarity and consideration among priority audiences, while onsite search, display and retargeting help maintain relevance and capture consumers as they move toward purchase. Closed-loop measurement connects those activities to Walmart outcomes.

Fund CTV without compromising conversion

One of the most important decisions is where CTV investment comes from. Many brands have lower-funnel Walmart media activity that already drives productive conversion.

Search, display and retargeting often play an essential role in capturing demand from consumers who are ready to buy. Reducing those investments to fund CTV can limit the plan’s ability to convert the demand it already has.

Investing in Walmart CTV does not require entirely new dollars. It can be funded by shifting a portion of traditional reach-focused brand media into a more commerce-connected CTV strategy, using Walmart audiences and closed-loop measurement to better understand how upper-funnel investment contributes to Walmart results.

Depending on the business objective, funding may come from:

• A brand media budget

• A growth or innovation initiative

• A new-product launch budget

• A seasonal or tentpole campaign

• A joint test-and-learn commitment within the Walmart Connect JBP

The JBP should make the investment logic clear: which lower-funnel programs need to be maintained, which budget can support demand creation, and what the CTV investment is intended to prove. This gives teams a more practical basis for evaluating performance and deciding whether, where, and how to scale.

Creative Commerce makes CTV more actionable

CTV performance depends on more than reaching the right audience. The creative needs to earn attention and make the product relevant quickly.

This is where creative commerce becomes central to your Walmart CTV strategy. Creative Commerce brings together brand storytelling and the information consumers need to take action.

For CTV, that means creating assets that communicate the product benefit, use case and reason to buy in a clear, compelling way. The creative should reflect the consumer context, the category and the retail moment it is designed to support.

Strong CTV creative often includes:

• A clear product benefit early in the ad

• Product-forward storytelling that shows the item in use

• A specific consumer problem, occasion or routine

• Messaging that aligns with the Walmart product detail page and onsite media

• A simple call to action that reinforces where and how to shop

Creative should also be treated as a learning opportunity. Brands can test product benefits, claims, formats, use cases and audience-specific messages to understand which stories contribute most effectively to engagement and commerce outcomes.

These learnings can improve more than the CTV campaign. They can inform Walmart product content, onsite display, creator briefs, retail media creative and future retail conversations.

Build measurement into the JBP from the start

CTV should enter the JBP with a defined learning agenda. Brands and Walmart teams should agree on the business questions the investment is designed to answer. For example:

• Did CTV reach the intended consumer audience?

• Did exposed consumers show stronger Walmart purchase behavior?

• Which audiences and creative messages were most effective?

• Did CTV support new-to-brand acquisition, category growth or repeat behavior?

• How did CTV contribute alongside onsite Walmart media?

• What should change in the next campaign or JBP cycle?

A clear measurement plan helps teams assess CTV in the context of the full media system. It also gives internal stakeholders a shared view of what the investment is expected to deliver.

What to bring into the Walmart Connect JBP conversation

For brands planning the next JBP cycle, the CTV conversation should focus on a connected plan, not a standalone placement.

Consider bringing five elements to the table:

A defined role for CTV: Clarify the business objective. Is the goal to support a launch, reach a new audience, build seasonal demand or create consideration for a premium product?

An additive investment strategy: Identify where incremental funds can come from and protect lower-funnel activity that is already working.

A Walmart audience plan: Align on the priority consumer, category signals and audience approach that will guide activation.

A creative commerce plan: Develop CTV creative that is built for the channel, connected to the shopping experience and designed to generate learning.

A shared measurement and readout plan: Set the success criteria, reporting cadence and decisions that the campaign will inform.

A stronger Walmart growth plan

The modern Walmart Connect JBP should create joint value for the brand and the retailer. CTV can contribute to that value when it is structured as a measurable demand-generation investment, supported by commerce-ready creative and connected to the rest of the Walmart media plan.

The opportunity is building a system that reaches consumers earlier, converts them more effectively, and gives teams stronger evidence for the next investment decision.

Flywheel helps brands build connected Walmart growth plans across CTV, onsite media, audience strategy, creative commerce and measurement. If you are planning your next Walmart JBP and want to evaluate where CTV can create incremental value, let’s connect.