NEW YORK & BENTONVILLE, Ark.—As advertisers put more pressure on media companies to show that ads can have a profitable impact on sales, NBCUniversal and Walmart have announced that they will be running a test to see how ads in live streaming sports impact retail sales.
To assess the impact of the live streaming ads, NBCU will be joining Walmart Connect Partner Lab, a testing ground to improve and innovate new opportunities for omnichannel connections across social media, live streaming and more.
Measuring the impact of ads on retail sales is one of the hottest areas in advertising today. Roku, TalkShopLive and TikTok have already been working with the Walmart Connect Partner Lab to assess the impact of ads on retail sales.
In a blog post, Sylvia Yam, senior director of strategy and business development, Walmart Connect explained that “[t]his will mark the first time NBCUniversal’s live sports streaming inventory will be available through a retail media network – just in time for this autumn’s prime sports seasons and holiday campaigns. Brands will be able to use Walmart Connect’s unparalleled targeting and measurement to reach streaming viewers during live sports programs.”
“At NBCUniversal, we know that partnerships fuel progress – and we’re delighted to partner with Walmart Connect to bring brands and sports fans closer together through the content and shopping experiences that keep them on the edge of their seats,” said Joe Cady, the executive vice president of advanced advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. “Sports enthusiasts are an unmatched audience, and with the power and scale of NBCUniversal’s digital advertising capabilities, combined in a privacy-minded way, with Walmart Connect’s shopper data, we’re able to add even more value for advertisers. It’s a win-win across the board.”
In addition to testing live sports streaming ads, Walmart also announced that NBCUniversal’s premium inventory will be available in its premium CTV bundle – which helps brands reach Walmart customers across top streaming platforms.
Walmart also announced the results of some tests with other partners and an expanded relationship with Roku.
Last year, Walmart announced a first-to-market partnership with Roku to make TV streaming the next e-commerce shopping destination with shoppable ads. That test enabled streamers to purchase featured products fulfilled by Walmart directly on Roku. The new experience allowed Roku users to discovery products and then buy them with a Roku remote, allowing purchase directly at the time of inspiration, Walmart reported.
Since launching the effort, Walmart said that 57% of Roku streamers have paused an ad to shop the product online.
“We believe a frictionless omnichannel shopping experience is where the industry is going and should go,” said Jeff Metzner, vice president of Walmart Team marketing and communications at Procter & Gamble in the Walmart blog post. “The ability to purchase a product directly from a connected TV ad has potential to reduce that friction for the consumer, so we’d like to see these capabilities continue to develop.”
During the Roku pilot, which ran from November 2022 to February 2023, Walmart said those shoppable ads demonstrated strong performance from both an awareness generation and engagement standpoint. These shoppable ads received at least three times higher clickthrough rates than average video campaigns powered by the Walmart DSP.
Based on those results, Walmart and Roku are now expanding the partnership to include their premium inventory within our CTV offering now available on the Walmart DSP.
“The overwhelming success of our pilot with Walmart reinforces our shared belief that the ease and convenience of TV streaming makes it the next great destination for e-commerce,” explained Lindsay Pullins, director of ad revenue partnerships at Roku. “As America’s #1 TV streaming platform, partnering with Walmart marks a significant moment for the future of shoppable ads, as it opens up the opportunity for more advertisers to leverage the unparalleled benefits offered by the industry leaders in streaming and retail.”
More results from the Lab are available here.
