Inside Walmart’s Shoppable, Celebrity-Packed Roku Collaboration
Walmart in July unveiled a digital-first shopping experience as part of its new “Welcome to Your Walmart” campaign, which let customers buy from shopping carts assembled by NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, recording artist Becky G and fictional celebrity/Mattel doll Barbie.
The curated carts reflected each individual’s interests and passions, according to a recent Roku blog post. Mahomes shopped for golf gear and items for his two young children, while Becky G selected fitness equipment and cooking essentials. Barbie’s list focused on essentials for her “biggest summer yet” and her picks for a “BFF backyard hang.” The selected items are available on Walmart.com.
To elevate the campaign, Walmart executed a multifaceted Roku platform takeover that put "Welcome to Your Walmart" in front of the streaming platform’s 70 million active accounts.
To support the campaign, Roku deployed several formats, including:
Personalized Playlists
Personalized playlists for each celebrity/character were featured on Roku with curated long- and short-form videos corresponding to their Walmart selections.
- Becky G’s “Live Like a Pop Star” playlist featured videos such as a behind-the-scenes video of her family life, cooking competition show “Batalla en Abuela’s Kitchen,” and the Jennifer Lopez documentary “Dance Again.”
- Barbie’s “Her Biggest Summer Yet” playlist featured content including musical comedy/drama “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” beauty business show “About Face” and reality rom-com “Meet Me in Paris.”
- Mahomes’ “Life as an MVP” playlist featured behind-the-scenes looks at his life off the field as a dad and husband, with videos of him taking care of his dog and teaching his daughter how to play sports.
Shoppable Action Ads
Inside each playlist, consumers could find shoppable ads where users could click “OK” to receive a link to their smartphones. For example, Barbie’s playlist revealed her newest passion: pickleball. Viewers could “Shop Barbie’s Walmart” to purchase the paddle-and-ball set and other items like her white visor.
Roku City Storefront
Walmart became the first retailer to appear in the streamer’s iconic purple Roku City screensaver. As people took a break from streaming to pick out Roku City’s hidden movie and TV references, they’d see a Walmart storefront showcasing its three celebrity collabs. According to the blog, 85% of Roku streamers watched it scroll by.
A Roku Platform Takeover
Walmart used Roku’s spotlight ad to make this content accessible and capture the attention of Roku streamers. The spotlight ad appeared as soon as Roku devices are turned on and were augmented with tiles on The Roku Channel, placements in mobile and ads on the Roku search screen.
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“Our collaboration with Roku allows Walmart customers to discover, share and shop favorites from three iconic personalities,” Jill Toscano, vice president of media at Walmart, said in the blog post. “By combining personal shopping choices with curated Roku playlists and a spectrum of creative experiences, we’re excited to offer a new, innovative way to enhance the customer shopping experience and shorten the distance between inspiration and purchase.”
Walmart teamed up with Roku in 2022 to allow streamers to purchase featured products fulfilled by the retailer directly on Roku. The partnership moved shopping beyond QR codes on screens — which already existed as a capability via TV streaming platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire TV — and changed the way consumers interact and shop TV and video content.