One of 2020’s biggest trends appears to be brands investing in their own media networks. Following in the footsteps of CVS and Home Depot, which have debuted and expanded their own programs in recent months, Walgreens on Thursday introduced Walgreens Advertising Group, a retail media offering for brands. Dubbed Wag, the new offering is meant to capture the value of Walgreen shopper data for advertisers.
“We are finding ways to make it as easy and seamless as possible to work with us to enable speed for advertisers to be able to get the full breath of the value that we can offer,” says Luke Kigel, VP of Walgreens integrated media and head of Wag.
Walgreens is currently working with more than 30 advertisers, most of which already sell on the chain’s shelves. While the drugstore has executed hundreds of campaigns digitally for brands in recent years, Walgreens is now formalizing its retail media offering and plans to invest in more resources for the program, Kigel says. “Everything for us starts and stops with value,” he says.