Walmart Rolls Out ‘Smart Network’
Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, will be introducing the out-of-home video network to about 300 stores this holiday season. Walmart anticipates chain-wide deployment of 27,000 screens by early 2010. Initially, advertisers (limited to those companies with products in the store), will be required to buy across the entire network of stores.
“This represents the wave of the future, a new paradigm for out-of-home [video networks] when marketers can cherry pick by stores, day, time of day and change messages daily,” said Steve Faso, vp and director of new media for Outdoor Services, part of the Interpublic Group.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of video networks bursting onto the scene, but most still rely on analog methods to distribute content and advertising. The Walmart Smart Network is the result of two years and $10 million in research and development to find the optimal placement of screens and customized programming to engage consumers at the point of purchase. It will replace in part Walmart’s current satellite-delivered network operating in 3,000 stores.
“We’ve built a network tailored to the way consumers shop our stores, delivering helpful, custom, content closest to the point of decision, that helps them shop smarter,” said Stephen Quinn, chief marketing officer for Walmart Stores, U.S. “The Smart Network is intelligent too, because every screen and every message has a purpose and we will be analyzing point of sale data on an ongoing basis to deliver a shopper-centric communications platform.”
Spots on the network will be shorter than 30-seconds in a even mix of ads and content.
Source : [mediaweek.com]