Roku partners with Best Buy for first-party data | MarTech

Roku and Best Buy announced today the streaming platform and device company will get access to the electronics sellers’ first-party data. The announcement also said the chain store is now the exclusive seller of Roku-branded TVs. This comes the day before the pair launch Roku City, an in-person, interactive activation at South by Southwest (SXSW). 

First partner and first party. This is the primary time Best Buy has partnered with a TV streaming platform. The deal has the corporate’s promoting business, Best Buy Ads, providing Roku with data it might use to focus on its marketing. 

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“We’re bringing together our entire business to construct the longer term of entertainment and promoting — making the TV experience simpler, offering the best marketing, data, tech, and scale to drive real results, and helping win the whole streamer’s journey together with Best Buy,” Julian Mintz, co-head of U.S. brand sales for Roku Media, said in a press release.

Last yr Roku formed a partnership deal with Walmart to check out shoppable streaming ads. Walmart ads on Roku let viewers purchase the product being shown by pressing a button on their distant. 

Roku City at SXSW. The two-day, in-person event puts people in a 3D version of Roku’s screensaver, Roku City, featuring Best Buy Home Theater Experience. It showcases the most recent Roku devices available at Best Buy and upcoming original content on The Roku Channel.

Why we care. It will probably be interesting to see if this partnership can assist two brands in a troublesome economic time. Roku must deal with tighter ad budgets and last month reported flat earnings for the fourth quarter 2022. Best Buy reported a ten% drop in revenue for that quarter and recently said it would close as much as 30 stores this yr.