Breaking the Fourth Walmart
Vizio didn’t share much in the way of details about its sale to Walmart during the 2024 NewFronts. At the time, there wasn’t much to share; the acquisition had only just been completed that February.
This time around, however, the TV manufacturer went in the complete opposite direction and invited Seth Dallaire, Walmart’s EVP and chief growth officer, on stage at its NewFronts presentation in New York City to ask the (very direct) question: Why did Walmart buy Vizio, anyway?
For Dallaire, who was reportedly responsible for spearheading the deal, Vizio’s appeal was twofold. The Walmart team knew its customers liked the product, and it represented a fast-growing inventory area — specifically, CTV – that proved complementary to Walmart’s existing retail media business.
Dallaire also touted that Walmart’s and Vizio’s company cultures were compatible and shared an emphasis on product innovation. And there are parallels, like content discovery and TV content recommendation engines that could be comparable to what Walmart does to drive purchases online and in-store.
“They may be different businesses, [but] they’re quite similar in terms of focusing on doing something innovative for the customer,” he added.
Consolidated TV
When The Trade Desk debuted the S&P500+, a product that concentrates spend to top media companies, digital publishers felt TTD’s eyes straying from the web to streaming TV.
But what happens when a CTV campaign turns on the S&P500+?
Vlad Chubakov, programmatic team lead at the performance agency DELVE, wrote up one such report. And it’s interesting partly for what the case study doesn’t reveal.
Unsurprisingly, the S&P500+ tightens the inventory spread. An open CTV campaign reached 348 different publishers, but using the S&P500+ reduced the number to 127 publishers. And while the top 10 inventory sellers accounted for 79% of impressions on open campaigns, the S&P500+ brought that to 94% consolidation.
But a layer of curation and algorithmic methodology plays a part, too. Why do Pluto TV and Vizio jump with S&P500+ campaigns, whereas NBCU seems to tail off, even though it’s part of the S&P500+ and was highly targeted for lookalike open web campaigns?
Disney, by the way, was hardly mentioned. But as Chubakov explained in the comment section, Disney+ is expensive. To find their way to the Magic Kingdom, advertisers must manually filter cheaper inventory like Pluto or create a separate campaign targeting relatively expensive placements.
Chat(bot), is this real?
Watch out, Google. There’s a new sheriff in town.
In April, Google’s market share dropped to the lowest it’s been since 2013 – and it’s not because DuckDuckGo is finally making headlines. AI chatbots are replacing search engines as one of people’s preferred ways to gather information.
At least, some information. The vast majority of consumers are still wary of listening to AI’s advice on topics like health advice, news and legal decisions.
Still, as AI evolves from chatbots into tools capable of tasks like web browsing and shopping, it’s “poised to transform the digital landscape,” Digiday predicts. An eMarketer report from April suggests that AI search platforms and agents will substantially decrease ad impressions and change the ways consumers engage in research – likely improving product awareness but harming consideration.
AI chatbots also have a leg up in driving sales – people are up to 2.6 times more likely to accept a higher price than they expected if it’s delivered by an AI chatbot, likely because it doesn’t seem as manipulative as a person. At least, not at first. Once the person suspects that the AI is using flattery as a sales tactic, the alarm bells go off.
But Wait! There’s More
OpenAI abandons its plans to be controlled by a for-profit board. [The Verge]
Trump announces plans to impose tariffs on films produced in foreign countries, causing entertainment media stocks to drop. [Business Insider]
A recent Roku TV software update causes HDR content to look washed out and “unwatchable.” [Ars Technica]
Google is launching a new film and TV project to make young audiences feel more positively about its products. [TechCrunch]
Did marketing create the manosphere? [Campaign Asia]
You’re Hired!
Ampersand names Todd Braverman as CRO. [release]
