- NBCUniversal (NBCU) and Walmart will introduce latest shoppable experiences and measurement capabilities around live sports on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 28), per details shared with Marketing Dive. This is the primary time Walmart Connect is bringing its retail media offering to linear TV.
- Viewers will have the ability to directly shop via an on-screen QR code resulting in Walmart.com and thru NBCU’s latest text-to-shop functionality in its Shop the Pod ad format. Advertisers can be provided closed-loop measurement to attribute sales across linear and streaming.
- The news represents the following step in a long-standing partnership between the retailer and media conglomerate that speaks to the growing convergence between video and retail media networks.
NBCU and Walmart are kicking off their latest collaboration throughout the linear and streaming broadcast of a Thanksgiving night NFL game, tapping into the intersection between sports fandom and the big-box store’s customers. Eighty-six percent of Walmart shoppers watch pro football, per first-party data cited by the retailer. The timing anticipates the Black Friday and Cyber Monday blitz.
Viewers can be exposed to the newest shoppable ad formats, including ones that deploy QR codes and text-to-shop functionality. Beyond promoting Walmart as a vacation destination, the ads will feature brands from categories like CPG. NBCU and Walmart are promising closed-loop measurement for sales attribution.
“This is the following era of promoting — essentially the most compelling content, an progressive viewer experience and real, cross-platform reach and attribution,” said Alison Levin, president of promoting and partnerships at NBCU, in a press release.
In addition, Walmart can be featured in a 2-minute segment promoting its Black Friday “advertainment” campaign, called “Deals of Desire.” The 10-part series features familiar actors in vignettes that parody fan-favorite TV shows. “Deals of Desire” is running along with Walmart’s larger 2024 holiday promoting push.
The latest collaboration between NBCU and Walmart, which can extend beyond Thanksgiving, is an element of the businesses’ ongoing efforts to tie together content and commerce. The retailer served because the launch partner for NBCU’s Must Shop TV, and NBCU has been testing ad offerings as a member of the Walmart Connect Partner Lab.
Walmart’s global promoting business increased 28% yr over yr in Q3, with Walmart Connect, which is concentrated on the U.S., growing 26%, per its latest earnings report. The retailer’s acquisition of Vizio, which further entrenches the corporate within the video promoting space, is rumored to shut on Dec. 2.
NBCU parent Comcast beat Q3 earnings expectations, with revenue for its media segment up nearly 37%, mostly attributable to the Olympics. Total ad sales for the Summer Games surpassed $1.2 billion.
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