PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. – Retail media standards are no longer a side conversation for the most patient people in the room. They are front and center, especially as more brand dollars flow into the channel.
Speaking at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, Austin Leonard, vice president and general manager of the DG Media Network at Dollar General, said the pressure from brands is clear.
“Brands are asking for more transparency,” he said, adding that they want the same clarity on delivery and reporting in retail media that they expect everywhere else.
Leonard credited industry groups for pushing things forward and noted that many retailers have been steadily maturing their platforms to answer that call.
There may be more standardization than you think
Leonard took a slightly contrarian view for a room full of people who make a living debating standards.
“I actually believe there’s more retail media standardization than we’re getting credit for,” he said.
Across major retail platforms, he argued, the basics are largely in place.
“People are counting clicks the same and impressions are real,” he said.
Because retail media reaches real shoppers in brand safe environments, Leonard said compliance matters not just to advertisers but to retailers messaging their own customers. In short, if the ads do not reach shoppers, nobody wins.
A retail media network built to sell more stuff
Asked to describe the flavor of DG Media, Leonard kept it practical.
“DG Media Network has a full portfolio of advertising tools,” he said, designed primarily for brands that sell products on Dollar General shelves.
The goal is straightforward.
“We only win when we’re effective at driving more sales,” he said.
That means using formats across digital and physical touchpoints to increase trips, basket size and overall sales impact. From sponsored products to display to video to in store media, Leonard said the focus is on proving incremental value rather than adding shiny objects.
Twenty thousand stores change the conversation
Dollar General’s scale shapes how brands think about the network, especially beyond endemic advertisers. Leonard pointed to the retailer’s footprint as a differentiator.
“We have more than 20,000 stores,” he said, spread across nearly every corner of the continental United States.
With a DG within five miles of roughly 75 percent of Americans, the retailer reaches rural, suburban and urban shoppers that other networks miss. That reach has started to attract non-endemic brands looking to introduce new services and capabilities to a broad audience.
Data value lives or dies on trust
On identity and interoperability, Leonard stressed responsibility before opportunity.
“It is our responsibility to protect our consumers and their data,” he said.
Dollar General spends significant time on security and privacy while still activating data in ways that deliver value. He highlighted closed loop measurement as a key benefit, allowing brands to prove ads work while reaching customers with messages they are likely to appreciate. Interoperability, he added, has to be balanced. Data should connect across the ecosystem without being pushed into every platform in sight.
Optimism with fewer spreadsheets
Looking ahead, Leonard said he is optimistic about how data interoperability can help retail media fit more naturally into the broader media ecosystem. He acknowledged the industry’s favorite topic with a measured nod.
“AI helps us move faster,” he said, especially when paired with strong standards and accurate measurement.
The upside is smarter optimization and better results. The hidden benefit may be cultural. Leonard said new tools could free teams from manual tasks and endless spreadsheets, allowing more time for strategy, better campaigns and better experiences for shoppers.
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