The Cannes Lions deal the ad industry is buzzing about — and what it means

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Walmart scored the deal everyone's talking about in Cannes this year.

Adtech yacht row, which was ungenerously — though amusingly — dubbed "the ruins of the open internet" by Digiday in its "official judgmental map of Cannes Lions 2026," was buzzing Tuesday with the news that Walmart scooped up the French adtech firm Vibe.co for a reported $1.4 billion, per the WSJ. (Walmart declined to comment on the terms.) Eyes are bulging at the size of the deal for a company that said its valuation was $410 million this past September, when it last raised capital.

The Cannes attendees I chinwagged with were unanimous that the acquisition symbolized Walmart's intent to become an ad giant rivaling Meta, Google, and Amazon.

Vibe's core promise is that its platform can make buying streaming TV ads as simple as using Google or Meta. (Check out its 2025 investor pitch deck.)

BI sister company EMARKETER estimates Walmart's ad business will generate $8.23 billion in worldwide ad revenue this year. To put that in context, EMARKETER forecasts Meta will bring in $243.46 billion, Google $239.54 billion, and Amazon $82.07 billion.

Vibe is another big play from Walmart as it looks to capture a larger chunk of the streaming TV ad market. Walmart acquired the TV company Vizio in 2024, helping it tap into TV ad budgets and prove its expanding ecosystem of ads could drive sales. Now, Vibe could help Walmart unlock ad budgets from small- to medium-sized businesses, Matt Barash, chief commercial officer of the adtech company Nova, told me.

"The next wave of CTV growth won't come from Fortune 500 budgets alone," he said. "It will come from SMBs seeking TV-scale reach with digital-style accountability, and Walmart is assembling the pieces to connect exposure, commerce, and sales outcomes in a way traditional television never could."

Andreas Roell, CEO of M&A advisory firm Evros Group, told me the key with this transaction is that Walmart is committing itself to self-service — a model that can unlock more revenue because it requires less hands-on support.

Walmart is building its advertising fortress with the benefit of hindsight courtesy of Amazon, Roell said. Amazon spent years frustrating advertisers with a powerful but often clunky adtech stack before overhauling it around 2022, as I've previously reported. That cleanup — and perhaps a few aggressive efforts to undercut competitors on fees — helped cement Amazon's ad dominance and made life considerably harder for rivals like The Trade Desk.

"Walmart is going about this in a more intentional, structured way," Roell said.

Other than its tech, Vibe was renowned for its provocative marketing. CEO Arthur Querou once dressed up as Sydney Sweeney to emulate the notorious "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans" American Eagle ad, replete with the golden locks and signature cleavage, to deliver an ad with the tagline: "Streaming TV has great leads."

One wonders whether the Walmart brand police might rein that in.

Lara O'Reilly is the anchor of the CMO Insider newsletter.She is a senior correspondent who has covered the digital advertising, marketing, and media industries since 2010. Her current beat includes big tech companies like Alphabet, and Meta, and adtech firms, agencies, publishers, the creator economy, and CMOs.Lara has previously worked as a reporter and executive producer at titles including The Wall Street Journal, Digiday, Yahoo Finance, and Marketing Week. She was previously Business Insider's senior global advertising editor from 2014 to 2017.Lara was named "Digital Journalist of the Year" by the London Press Club in 2016.Lara is a regular guest on TV and radio and has appeared on outlets such as the BBC, NPR, SiriusXM's Wharton Business Daily, and CTV Television Network. She also frequently speaks on stage at major events such as Web Summit, IFA, VivaTech, Advertising Week, and Cannes Lions.To get in touch with Lara O'Reilly, email [email protected] or contact her on Signal at @loreilly.71Check out Insider's source guide for tips on sharing information securely.Read some of Lara's recent work below: