News Briefs

Walmart Connect, the retail giant’s closed-loop omnichannel media business, has partnered with Omnicom Media, the media services division of Omnicom Group. The partnership marks the first such agreement between Walmart Connect and an agency holding company, according to a news release.

Making the announcement at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Walmart executive vice president and chief revenue officer Seth Dallaire said, "As marketers prepare for the deprecation of third-party cookies, we're building a platform and ecosystem that leverages the scale of Walmart's first-party data and strong customer relationships to help them deliver strong ROI in an increasingly fragmented environment. Our partnership with Omnicom illustrates Walmart Connect's focus on driving growth, improving product capabilities and educating the industry on the role retail media platforms have in delivering measurable solutions that connect clients with omnichannel shoppers."

Spanning pricing, agency support, ongoing product feedback and ground-floor opportunities, the partnership particularly enables cross-screen planning against Walmart audiences in Omni (i.e., Omnicom's open operating system that facilitates the entire consumer purchasing journey). This allows Omnicom's agencies to serve up connected experiences across media and commerce platforms within owned, earned and paid environments.

Planners can identify domains, apps and screens with the most effective reach and cost for Walmart audiences. Additionally, using the Omni ID, they can also push advertiser's first-party data to the Walmart DSP where it combines with Walmart audiences.

Walmart Connect and Omnicom first collaborated in 2021 with Omnicom Media Group's participation in beta tests for the Walmart DSP's frequency cap function.

Menasha Packaging Company has finalized its acquisition of Color-Box, a business unit of corrugated box manufacturer Georgia-Pacific. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Like Menasha Packaging, Color-Box is a corrugated packaging manufacturer specializing in high-graphic boxes. Founded in 2000, Color-Box employs 550 and operates plants in Richmond, Indiana; Pelahatchie, Mississippi; and Madera, California. Color-Box packaging options include litho-laminate with seven colors and coatings, computer to print plate capabilities, a range of board combination and flute selections as well as other solutions, according to Georgia-Pacific's website.

"Our two organizations are going to be an excellent fit. By joining forces, we will be able to offer both an expanded geographic footprint, as well as enriched capabilities in high-end graphic packaging solutions for our customers," said Mike Riegsecker president of Menasha Packaging, in a news release. Menasha assists with go-to-market strategies for more than 1,500 brands, including national leaders and emerging startups.

Amazon has teamed up with on-demand delivery service Grubhub to offer Prime members a free, year-long Grubhub+ membership trial.

Beginning July 6, Prime members in the U.S. can sign up for Grubhub+, a monthly membership offering unlimited $0 delivery fees on orders of at least $12 at eligible restaurants as well as member-only perks — like free food and order discounts — and donation matching, for one year.

"Being able to give Prime members one year of Grubhub+ and no delivery fees from restaurants is our way of saying 'thank you,'" said Jamil Ghani, vice president, Amazon Prime, in a news release announcing the partnership. "The value of a Prime membership continues to grow with this offer."

Grubhub+ members also receive a donation match on orders through Grubhub’s Donate the Change program, which raised more than $25 million in 2021 and benefited about 20 charitable organizations, according to the release.

After 12 months, Prime members enrolled in Grubhub+ will have their membership automatically renewed at its usual rate of $9.99 a month, until canceled. New and existing Grubhub (and Grubhub+) users are eligible for the Prime deal.