This post was created in partnership with Tunnl
Tracking customer sentiment and creating feedback loops is essential in today’s marketing landscape, even for large legacy brands like Walmart.
During a Brandweek 2026 fireside chat co-hosted with Tunnl, Alison Weissbrot, executive editor of ADWEEK, sat down with Sara Fagen, co-founder and CEO of Tunnl, and Aaron Rios, group director of public and government affairs for Walmart, to discuss how audience intelligence can help strengthen brand affinity and increase sales.
Dialing in to local sentiments
The discussion began with Fagen identifying this time as a period of great disruption, when trust is hard to come by. Brands like Walmart work with her company, Tunnl, to gather audience intelligence so they can better tailor their outreach and campaigns to specific customer subsets.
“We identify key groups through a survey research process, and put the many good things Walmart does in its communities in front of its customers and stakeholders,” Fagen explained.
For Rios, the goal is to help Walmart customers learn about the good that the brand brings to its communities. “Even though they may know us as a consumer, it doesn’t mean they fully know all of the things that we’re doing,” he explained.
That starts with developing a deeper understanding of “where” the customers are and what matters to them. “In Arkansas, the heartland, it’s a very different message than it’s going to be in the Northeast, and that’s very different than what we see in the West,” said Rios.
Whether it’s getting the message out to an area with limited healthcare resources or sharing Walmart pharmaceutical resources with communities that are prone to natural disasters, understanding local nuances is key.
Keeping the pulse on changing demographics
Rios described how Texas’ changing population since the pandemic was an excellent test audience since new arrivals may have a different perception of the brand based on where they lived before. “How could we educate them on the things that we’re doing and get them to be a more consistent Walmart consumer?” said Rios.
“You also want to build a bank of goodwill because sometimes things go wrong,” Fagen noted, especially when you have many store locations. “You want the community, particularly where you’re operating, to understand that this is a partner. Not just that they employ a lot of people here, but when there is a crisis, they show up and help the community.”
Rios agreed, adding, “Maybe here’s somebody who wasn’t a regular shopper, but their experience caused them to look at the brand differently and react in a way that was positive.”
