As retail media networks multiply (there are hundreds of online networks and spending is expected to reach $1.1 billion), $62 billion (in the US alone by 2025), many brands are finding themselves caught in a cycle of mandatory investment. What started as an opportunity has become what some see as an implicit tax: another mandatory payment for shelf space, favorable trading terms, or simply to appear when consumers search for products by name.
Harvey Ma, who runs Sam’s Club’s Member Access Platform (MAP), is determined to change the narrative. “If my retail media investments become a tax on a brand, what the brand needs to do is put that money back somewhere, which will usually be in the form of costs,” Ma says. Instead, he’s creating a model where advertising promises to improve the member experience while also helping brands grow alongside the retailer.
This philosophy is due in part to Ma’s unconventional background. Unlike many other retail media executives, he didn’t rise through advertising or marketing roles. “I was actually a mechanical engineer,” Ma explains, recalling his confusion during his first digital marketing meeting, where industry jargon about CDPs, DSPs, and SSPs had him texting his boss that maybe he was in the wrong job.
But that outside perspective proved valuable. Ma frequently challenged industry conventions by repeatedly asking “why,” to the point where his colleagues could only respond that certain practices were simply “the way it’s done” — an answer Ma never accepted. He believes that established methods aren’t necessarily the right ones, and this questioning mindset led him to reimagine what retail media could be at Sam’s Club: not just a revenue stream, but a way it could improve the member experience.
It is a different retail media network
Sam’s Club launched MAP in September 2022, while positioning itself as a member-focused advertising platform. While the company does not break out MAP revenue separately in its financial reports, its parent company, Walmart Inc., has highlighted continued growth and investment in its advertising businesses across its portfolio.
What sets Sam’s Club apart is its focus on membership value rather than short-term ad revenue. Ma explains that its primary goal is to teach brands how their touchpoints drive action, whether positive or negative. This willingness to recognize and learn from negative signals informs how MAP develops its offerings.
According to Ma, Sam’s Club does not undertake initiatives just to generate revenue, but to serve members. He notes that all revenue collected is reinvested into Sam’s Club operations.
This reinvestment takes many forms, from member salaries to club redevelopment and new growth, but the core philosophy remains clear and consistent: advertising should not be a extraction from the ecosystem, but rather a way to enhance it.
Campaign Thinking vs. Longitudinal Measurement
One of the most distinctive features of MAP is its approach to measurement. “What I think we should do is measure campaigns over time – longitudinal customer behaviour – rather than one-off campaigns that show instant return and gratification,” says Ma.
To illustrate his approach, Ma shares his experience from being a college student to becoming a parent, highlighting the many stages in life where poor advertising prerogative leads to irrelevant messages. He points to the typical example of buying diapers at a baby gift shop and being bombarded with diaper ads despite not having children of his own.
Ma explains that Sam’s Club’s longitudinal measurement allows them to identify anomalous signals, creating a more nuanced understanding of member needs and ultimately delivering more relevant advertising.
