This week’s Three-Minute Thursdays interview focused on Walmart’s “Who Knew?” campaign and the ways that all suppliers, not just Marketplace sellers, can benefit from this initiative.
Lainie: Welcome to Three Minute Thursdays, where we address supplier concerns about current news in three minutes or less. I’m your host, Lainie Petersen, and we are talking with Steven Bertram, Chief Operating Officer at 8th& Walton, about Walmart’s “Who Knew?” campaign, its impact on brand perception, and how suppliers can leverage this campaign. Thank you for joining us. How does this campaign aim to reshape perceptions of Walmart, particularly in light of the marketplace’s new categories, including luxury, fashion, and footwear?
Steven: A lot of the intent here is that consumers, over time, when they’ve shopped online, they’ve done a lot of that shopping elsewhere and grown comfortable with what they can buy in those locations, and been comfortable with Walmart buying grocery-type items only.
While they’ve known Walmart to be there for groceries and others to be there for more hard-line type items, now Walmart is reshaping this to say, “Hey, yes, we’re here for these things that we’ve always been for, but we’ve also had these other categories. And we’re trying to generate awareness that we have those things, awareness that we’ve got the assortment, and awareness that the shopping experience is really good, just consumers find it in other places. And so again, I think it’s all about awareness of what their site is and how it can be used.
Lainie: How can suppliers leverage this campaign even if these suppliers are not selling on the marketplace?
Steven: Walmart has lots of opportunities for suppliers to advertise on Walmart.com. Now that those advertising opportunities are very wide. What suppliers have focused on for many years is sponsored search, which is where they advertise their products to show up when consumers search for a certain keyword, so they’re at that point of decision already for the consumer. In the same way that Walmart’s looking to drive awareness for their site, through this campaign, suppliers can use more top-of-the-funnel strategies through Walmart Connect, where they can meet those consumers in different places to drive awareness for the categories.
Walmart’s asking suppliers to drive digital penetration of the category in the market. But they need to drive more awareness to some of those categories and suppliers through Walmart Connect advertising. They can and use those top-of-the-funnel techniques to generate that awareness for their brand specifically.
Lainie: So there are opportunities for everybody.
Steven: That’s correct. The tools we’re discussing through Walmart Connect and advertising are available to every single supplier, regardless of whether you’re on store shelves, being shopped through online grocery pickup and delivery, or if you’re a marketplace shipping out of your own facility.
All the tools available there in advertising are available to all suppliers.
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