The announcement comes after Walmart Connect rolled out a suite of self-service tools last fall primarily for smaller third-party sellers on its platforms.
Walmart Connect has named five creative agency partners for use by marketers using the retail network’s self-service advertising tools, the company announced today.
The agency partners, which will be discussed by Walmart during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and up and running by next month, include VidMob, WhyteSpyder, Kaizen Ad, ItsRapid.ai and The Mars Agency.
The idea is to offer advertisers a range of services, said Diana Finster, head of agency and technology partnerships for Walmart Connect. Those capabilities range from VidMob, a creative analytics agency focusing on dynamic creative optimization, to Mars, a full-service shopper and commerce agency. Kaizen specializes in mobile-optimized video ads, while WhyteSpyder focuses specifically on Walmart e-commerce. ItsRapid.ai focuses on creative asset management and optimization.
The agency roster announcement comes after Walmart Connect rolled out a suite of self-service tools last fall primarily for smaller third-party sellers on its platforms.
“As we expand our self-service ad formats, creative support has really become a priority for us,” said Finster. “We know the pain points that self-service advertisers can have, particularly smaller businesses, when it comes to ad creative.”
But, Finster said, the agencies “will help advertisers of all sizes,” and all will be trained on Walmart creative best practices so they will “know what the Walmart customer needs.” Ultimately, the group of agencies will likely expand, she said.
Pain points or not, Walmart Connect is on a roll. It’s on track to become a top 20 global seller of advertising in 2023, according to Brian Wieser, principal of the Madison and Wall consultancy, after posting $2.7 billion in ad revenue in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 and last week posting an additional increase of 30% globally and 40% in the U.S. last quarter. Wieser projected Walmart Connect could be a $3.5 billion enterprise this year.
While some retail media networks offer creative services as part of a managed service (as opposed to self-service) platform or for an additional cost, marketers will select and pay Walmart’s agency partners directly, Finster said.
Walmart Connect’s creative agencies build out a partner network that include API and other technology partners. Sibling Sam’s Club also rolled out a network of tech and agency partners, aimed primarily at buying and optimizing within its Member Access Platform.
