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DSE: Walmart reveals 18-month results for SMART Network
Bill Yackey
%u2022 23 Feb 2010Walmart released critical information on the state of its SMART digital signage network this morning at Digital Signage Expo as part of the Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Summit. Following a keynote from MediaBytes%u2019 Shelly Palmer, three men who helped develop the network several years ago talked to a %u201Cstanding room only crowd%u201D about the network%u2019s uplift stats, notable campaigns and plans for the future.
%u201CWho remembers Walmart TV?%u201D asked Andy Johnson, creative director at Walmart. Many in the audience sheepishly raised their hands. %u201CNow, who has seen the SMART Network? The two could not be more different.%u201D
Anyone who has seen both networks would surely agree. Faded CRT televisions hanging from shoddy mounts high above the retail area were replaced 18 months ago with high-definition screens in portrait and landscape mode at shoppers%u2019 eye levels.
Johnson compared the two networks with the following lists:
Old Walmart TV network
1. Audience aggregation
2. 30 second ads
3. Single-channel CRTs
4. CPM-based pricing
New SMART Network
1. Helping shoppers shop smarter
2. Formats designed for retail
3. Zone specific screens
4. Lift-based pricing
Research also supports the SMART Network%u2019s success over its predecessor. Bill McMullen, senior vice president and general manager of Studio2, cited a recent Nielsen survey that said 40 percent of Walmart shoppers noticed the network, 32 percent recalled an ad on the network and 64 percent reported a %u201Cpositive experience%u201D from the network.
These percentages are impressive when one takes into consideration that the SMART Network reports 140 million impressions per week, with a CPM of $2-4. To put that in perspective, the Super Bowl reported 100 million impressions earlier this month.
The triple play
Walmart%u2019s premier SMART Network ad buy is called the triple play, where a campaign is shown on a large welcome screen at the entrance of the store, a category screen in departments and endcap screens on each aisle.
According to Johnson, it takes 21 seconds for a shopper to move from the door of the store to the greeting area where the welcome screen is placed.
%u201CThe welcome screen messages run about five seconds,%u201D Johnson said. %u201COf those 21 seconds, we%u2019re hoping to get at least five seconds of attention.%u201D
Category screens are %u201Ca few steps away%u201D from the products, and usually mounted above departments like over the counter drugs and frozen foods.
Endcaps, Johnson says, are %u201Cwithin arms reach%u201D and provide %u201Cthe one piece of info I need to make a buying decision right now.%u201D
Success
By all accounts, the SMART Network has been successful in the past 18 months, as it has proven to increase sales for many of the products that are advertised on it.
Walmart has a sophisticated back end system for its SMART Network that ties the digital signage into the point-of-sale system. Tying the two to each other allows Walmart to isolate the exact sales lift effects of the network%u2019s content, says Dave Debusk, VP of DS-IQ.
%u201CWe know what content is played on what screens at what stores at what times,%u201D he said. %u201CAnd simultaneously we know what was sold at those times.%u201D
Based on that data, Walmart was able to calculate the following percentage increases in store departments which feature the SMART Network.
Sales lift by departments
Electronics %u2013 7%
Over the counter TC %u2013 23%
Food %u2013 13%
Health/beauty %u2013 28%
Sales lift by product type
Mature item boost %u2013 7%
Item launch %u2013 9%
Seasonal push %u2013 18%
Price leadership (items on rollback) %u2013 6%
The future of the network
Debusk said that his company and Walmart are going to continue to work on isolating sales uplift and are already working on a program to optimize advertising.
The optimization of the network will allow advertisers to run multiple campaigns and let the network %u201Cdecide%u201D which ad is most effective based on point-of-sale metrics. The network can then automatically respond by running ads at times when they have proven to be most effective.
%u201COne product may sell better on the weekend, another is better during the week,%u201D said Debusk. %u201COptimization can realize that one product sells better on weekend and throttle back on it during the week, at the same time throttling up on messaging for a brand that does well during the week.%u201DRelated articles on this topic: DOOH Advertising
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Hey, if it works for Walmart... DOOH Advertising | DSE: Walmart reveals 18-month results for SMART Network | Digital Signage Today
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