OP #248: A Double Victory for Walmart

This OP features some thoughts on the Walmart Vizio acquisition which should have the ad world watching.

Author

Darren Herman
February 27, 2024

Happy Tuesday OP Community,

Last week’s OP was the most engaged OP in a long time. I heard from a ton of you about the top ten career lessons I wrote about and the OP Community dinner. For those who care, I gave the talk to the Skidmore seniors and I believe it went well. The professor kindly reminded me that the audience had never really heard of the “dot com boom” and “Myspace” - which was mind-blowing to me. Assuming we had seniors only in the class, most were born in 2002 or 2003, which is after the late 90s rise of the dot coms. The presentation file is here but may not read well without a voice over.

🥩 OP Community x Fogo de Chao meal.  Thank you to all 75 of you who filled out the form in the last OP to grab a meal at Fogo de Chao with me. I’m super excited about making this happen and will tackle it one city at a time. If you’ve not signed up, you can do so here. I am working on the logistics of this and will email those on the list over the next few weeks with a plan. New York and Boston generated 70% of responses while San Francisco, LA, and Dallas were tied for 3rd place. Thanks to my readers in Chicago, Seattle, and Washington DC… all tied for fourth place with responses.

🏀Posting and Toasting has a solid article on Five Things that Are Necessary For the Knicks to Make a Deep Run. And they had another article about Julius Randle suiting back up.

🔒 I’m increasingly becoming convinced that being hacked is an inevitability for virtually everyone. This is not good. I was locked out of my GoDaddy-provided MSFT Outlook email for this newsletter and the GoDaddy support person I was texting with wanted me to click on the following link and provide my credentials: https://lpcdn.lpsnmedia.net/le_unified_window/c.html (with a whole lot of numbers attached).  Does that link look anything related to GoDaddy? Nope. Apparently Delta uses it too. After some sleuthing, it’s from LivePerson, a well known chatbot company, but a $16 billion dollar company such as GoDaddy should probably have this all in their domain space, no?

📺 In the Belly of MrBeast via my friend Eric Danetz .Talk about someone who has perfected YouTube: his individual videos generate tens if not hundreds of millions of views in 30 days. If you are a content creator, marketer, or executive at a business, you’ll want to read this because there are some nuggets in this piece that you can apply to your own.

🥒⛳🍹 You have probably heard me talk about Silicon Alley Sports before. It’s an organization that began 17 years ago for senior members of the digital ecosystem in the tri-state area. If you play golf, pickleball, or want to come and schmooze, you can learn more about it here. We just launched ticketing ~2 weeks ago and we’re 50% sold out for golf and 50% for pickleball. If you are concerned about your skill level and the level of play, watch these videos to get a sense of the group (or reach out to me directly).

Thank you for reading as always. Your time and attention is scarce and I appreciate you spending it with me.

Darren

The Double Victory for Walmart: A Strategic Leap in Retail and Advertising

Walmart's recent acquisition of Vizio for a whopping $2.3 billion is more than just a business transaction; it's a pivotal move that redefines the landscape of retail and advertising. This strategic acquisition brings to the forefront Walmart's understanding of its customer base—acknowledging that a significant portion of Vizio customers are also Walmart shoppers. With this newfound knowledge of their viewing preferences, Walmart is poised to tailor its marketing strategies more effectively than ever before.

The significance of this acquisition extends beyond personalized marketing; it elevates Walmart's advertising offerings to new heights. By integrating Vizio's SmartCast Operating System and its expansive device ecosystem—which has seen growth of approximately 400% since 2018—into Walmart Connect, Walmart enhances its in-home entertainment offerings while simultaneously bolstering its advertising business. This integration allows Walmart to close the loop on the advertising-to-purchase journey, offering a seamless experience that many retailers strive for but few achieve.

Walmart's move is a direct challenge to giants like Amazon and Roku. Through Vizio's Automated Content Recognition technology, Walmart gains direct access to consumer viewing habits, enabling the delivery of more personalized and effective advertisements. This not only has the potential to increase sales both online and in-store but also promises to deliver more immersive and customer-centric viewing experiences. It's a testament to Walmart's ambition to capture a significant portion of the advertising market, enhancing customer engagement through targeted advertising.

However, the success of this venture hinges on Vizio's ability to maintain its reputation for delivering solid TV products. Any faltering on Vizio's part could diminish the advantages of this acquisition, placing pressure on Walmart to ensure the continued innovation and quality of Vizio's offerings.

In essence, Walmart's acquisition of Vizio is a double victory. It marks a significant step towards integrating advertising, consumer data, and retail operations on a grand scale, setting Walmart on a path to dominate the retail-advertising ecosystem. By doing so, Walmart not only challenges the status quo but also redefines the intersection of retail and entertainment, fostering a more interconnected and data-driven retail experience for its customers. This strategic leap is not just about selling products; it's about enhancing the way we shop, watch, and engage with brands in our everyday lives.

If interested, here are some follow-up posts: Cnet, The Verge, AdExchanger, AdAge, Digiday, Lowpass

I've done extensive reading this week and I hope you'll enjoy the following links that I've curated. If you come across an article that you believe would be a great addition to future OP letters, don't hesitate to share it with me. However, please note that I retain the discretion to decide on the content that goes into each OP letter.

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