Best Buy Brings Ad Business In-House

Best Buy this month debuted Best Buy Ads, its in-house media company. Leveraging its rich shopper data, Best Buy Ads offers relevant brands a variety of “new and holistic ways” to provide meaningful messages to shoppers at the right time.

According to Best Buy, the consumer technologies retailer interacts with shoppers three billion times a year in stores, in homes and online. Best Buy Ads aims to serve ads based on shoppers’ interests and when that interest spikes, based on the retailer’s customer data such as page views, video plays, search history and abandoned carts. The offering helps brands reach their audience on its own channels (i.e. Bestbuy.com, in stores, mobile app) and on external sites with a broad portfolio of offerings.

Some of Best Buy’s offerings include personalized ads using paid search, sponsored products on Bestbuy.com, on-site and off-site display ads, onsite and offsite video ads, social ads through multi-platform campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, and store video ads through Best Buy’s TV and PC displays or proximity messaging using mobile location technology.

Best Buy said in a recent news release that it spent the past few years building a business that can analyze customer-relationship data and recommend relevant ways to connect with customers based on “cutting-edge” data science and analytics.

Before there was Best Buy Ads, there was Best Buy On, the retailer’s in-store TV network that eventually evolved into the now non-existent Best Buy Media Network that offered brands traditional and modern ways to target shoppers both in stores and online using first-party data.

In addition, coinciding with the launch of Best Buy Ads, the retailer reiterated its focus on inclusion and diversity. In partnership with the Best Buy Foundation, Best Buy Ads is launching an advertising-focused “Career Pathways” program through its Best Buy Teen Tech Center locations across the U.S. The goal of the program is to create opportunities and train diverse candidates for future advertising careers. Teens will have access to internships, mentorships with professionals and paid work experiences within the advertising industry.

Last year, Best Buy unveiled a five-year plan to address underrepresentation and technology inequities as well as create educational and career opportunities for those who need it most. Best Buy also pledged to dedicate nearly 10% of its annual media spend to BIPOC media by 2025.