The CPG Guys Podcast

Episode: Scaled National Growth with Dollar General Media Network's GM Austin Leonard
Hosts: Peter V.S. Bond & Sri Rajagopalan
Guest: Austin Leonard, VP & GM, Dollar General Media Network
Date: November 5, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging live episode recorded at Groceryshop, Sri and Peter sit down with Austin Leonard, recently appointed VP and GM of the Dollar General Media Network (DGMN). The conversation delves deep into how DGMN is becoming a critical growth lever for both Dollar General and its brand partners—shedding light on national scale, rural and omnichannel reach, digital transformation, media measurement, and in-store innovation. Austin shares insights on serving "the last mile of America" and why DGMN is uniquely positioned to connect brands with hard-to-reach and value-conscious shoppers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dollar General & DGMN: Scale and Unique Audience

• Scale: Over 20,000 stores across 48 states, serving 90 million+ unique customer profiles with $40B+ in 2024 sales. (07:11)
• Audience: While often labeled "rural," Dollar General’s footprint includes suburban and urban areas; 75% of Americans live within five miles of a DG store.
• DGMN’s Unique Value: “Our first party data addresses the gap in less populated markets and allows brands to tap into our unduplicated, extensive and growing reach.” – Austin Leonard (08:00)
• Reaching the Overlooked: DGMN is built to reach consumers overlooked by traditional digital platforms that focus on urban/dense markets.

2. Omnichannel & Digital Transformation

• Store Investment: Massive remodeling effort (targeting 80% of stores) and opening 575 new stores in 2025 to support growth. (09:30)
• Digital Delivery: Partnerships with DoorDash (16,000+ covered stores) and rollout of DG Delivery. Forecast: 16,000 DG stores with first-party delivery by year-end. (09:30–10:50)
• Consistent Value Online & Offline: Digital offers, coupons, and price parity ensures last-mile delivery remains accessible to the value-driven DG shopper. (10:50)
  • “The value part's really important because obviously each shopper might have value in a different way… if there's a way to offset the cost of delivery through some of the digital offers and actually make that value exchange… that's where our first-party DG delivery really shines.” – Austin (11:37)

3. "Winning the Last Mile" – Serving Underserved Markets

• Trademark Moment:
  • “I like to call it winning the last mile of E commerce for the last mile of America.” – Austin Leonard (12:32)
  • Hosts respond enthusiastically; emphasize this crystallizes DGMN’s mission.
• Underserved Communities: Many DG locales are the only source of staple products and now, e-commerce delivery, for certain communities. (12:22)

4. DGMN at Groceryshop: National Scale & Brand Collaboration

• Goals at Groceryshop: Building strong relationships with brand, tech, and agency partners; listening to advertiser goals and feedback; reinforcing DG’s role in national sales/media strategies. (15:27–16:20)
• Message to Brands: “For any brand building a national sales or media strategy, Dollar General is a critical part to helping ensure they reach all of America.” – Austin (16:18)

5. Organizational Structure: Integrated for Impact

• Reporting Structure: DGMN reports to CMO (Tony Rogers), who reports to Chief Merchandising Officer (Emily Taylor). Marketing is within Merchandising. (18:24)
• Benefits: Fosters native integration of retail media into enterprise marketing and merchandising for smoother collaboration and better results.
  • “Our job and really our vision is we want to be the most innovative, collaborative, and consumer-centric retail media network so we can bring the most value to DG shoppers and advertisers.” – Austin (19:42)
• Not a Silo: DGMN is embedded, not tacked on, to brand planning—breaking from the traditional afterthought role seen at other retailers. (21:39)

6. Best-in-Class Partnerships: Evolving with Brands

• History: DGMN started as an offsite, managed service organization before building onsite inventory and self-service tools. (23:16–24:11)
• New Investments: Growing onsite/app/web inventory and self-service functionality to match emerging digital buying workflows.
  • “We need to meet brands how they want to buy media.” – Austin (25:15)
  • “The easier you make it, the more friction that you take out of the process.” – Austin (25:58)

7. Measurement, Transparency & ROI

• IAB Standards: DGMN’s measurement and metrics follow IAB standards—including clear definitions for clicks, new buyers, ROAS, and attribution windows. (26:56–27:18)
  • “Just making sure that there’s a common language should help make it easier for brands to easily understand our methodology.” – Austin (27:27)
• Incrementality Focus: Emphasis on proving incremental sales and new customer acquisition, as demanded by finance and sales leaders, especially as retail media investments undergo greater scrutiny. (27:54)
• “New to Brand” Metric: Recognized as significant, especially given many brands have lost households since the pandemic. (28:42)
  • “They should look at retailers that are growing households and find a way to partner more closely.” – Austin (28:57)

8. In-Store Media & Innovation

• Scope: Shelf talkers, in-store signage, connected shelves (bridging digital incentives), and in-store audio advertising (radio) now in-market. (29:26–30:56)
  • “With over 20,000 stores, we have a really unique opportunity to innovate at scale.” – Austin (30:56)
• The "Unreachables": In-store channels becoming vital as digital and traditional mass media fragment. (31:40)
  • “They are consumers that have cut the cord… Everything they do is streaming… but they're still going into your store and shopping, aren't they?” – Peter (31:40)
• Measurement for In-Store: Planning to measure the impact and incremental sales correlated to in-store activation as innovation matures. (32:02)

9. 2026 and the Road Ahead

• Vision: DGMN aims to become the most innovative, collaborative, and consumer-centric retail media network—serving both advertisers and DG shoppers. (32:47)
• Strategic Focus:
  • More self-serve, automation, and flexibility for brand/agency partners.
  • Enhanced performance measurement and insights.
  • Prioritizing AI integration and digital/in-store innovation for the “last mile of America.”
  • “We’re really focused on things like automation, more self service tools for our brands and advertisers… enhanced performance measurement… and then finally, we’re really placing an emphasis on AI integration, in store innovation, as we talked about, and serving the last mile of America digitally and physically.” – Austin (33:33–34:03)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On DGMN's footprint:
  “Dollar General operates over 20,000 stores across 48 states… 75% of Americans live within five miles of a store.” – Austin Leonard (07:11)

• Winning the last mile:
  “Winning the last mile of E commerce for the last mile of America.” – Austin Leonard, coined on the spot (12:32)

• Meeting brands where they are:
  “We need to meet brands how they want to buy media.” – Austin Leonard (25:15)

• Transparency and trust:
  “Just making sure that there’s a common language should help make it easier for brands to easily understand our methodology.” – Austin Leonard (27:27)

• Big picture—on DGMN's mission:
  “Our job and really our vision is we want to be the most innovative, collaborative and consumer centric retail media network so we can bring the most value to DG shoppers and advertisers.” – Austin Leonard (19:42)

• Hosts on DGMN's business alignment:
  “The big thing for me is DGMN is part of marketing, which in turn is part of merchandising. And their core mission is to deliver more meaningful experiences and delight their customers and help their advertisers speak to their shoppers in more meaningful ways…” – Peter V.S. Bond (34:53)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• DG Overview & Customer Base: 07:11–08:27
• Digital Expansion, Delivery & Omnichannel: 09:30–13:31
• Trademark Moment: “Winning the Last Mile” 12:32–13:31
• Groceryshop Takeaways—Collaboration with Brands: 15:27–17:29
• Org Structure & Integration: 18:24–21:39
• Brand Partnerships Evolution: 23:16–25:15
• Measurement & Transparency: 26:56–28:31
• In-Store Media Strategy: 29:26–32:02
• 2026 Vision & Innovation Roadmap: 32:47–34:03
• Closing Reflections: 34:53–36:12

Tone & Takeaways

The episode is lively, full of camaraderie, and blends tactical CPG insights with bigger-picture strategy and a touch of humor. Austin is candid and enthusiastic about DGMN’s potential and the “mission” of delivering for both brands and value-focused communities. Sri and Peter repeatedly draw out what makes DG and DGMN unique in the current retail media landscape—namely, national scale, a truly unduplicated audience, and a collaborative approach.

Core Takeaways:

• Dollar General is an essential part of any brand’s national reach and go-to-market, especially for the “last mile.”
• DGMN’s strength is its ability to connect brands with overlooked, high-value shoppers via both digital and physical channels—with robust transparency and innovation.
• Integration of retail media, marketing, and merchandising delivers better results for brands, advertisers, and shoppers alike.

For anyone exploring how to scale CPG brand growth through retail media, this episode is a must-listen.