Walgreens Expands Ad Solutions

Walgreens Advertising Group (WAG) is launching self-serve programmatic and clean-room solutions to give brand advertisers more flexibility when running campaigns. The new programmatic solution will enable brands to target consumers by applying audiences based on Walgreens’ first-party data to campaigns run on each advertiser’s preferred demand-side platform (DSP).

With more than 95 million myWalgreens members and the retailer’s roughly one billion daily interactions with customers, the services can target purchasers of roughly 70 key categories and advanced customer targets, according to a news release from Walgreens.

Advertisers can access the new self-serve solution through The Trade Desk or OpenX, with more connections being added in the future. WAG’s connection with The Trade Desk leverages closed-loop reporting, where advertisers tie campaign performance to Walgreens’ sales data and optimize in real-time to help drive results and learnings for future campaigns.

“We’re excited to bring our advertising clients more flexibility in managing the reach and frequency of campaigns on their preferred DSP, while dually building a better consumer experience through more relevant and optimized advertising,” said Luke Kigel, vice president of Walgreens integrated media and head of Walgreens Advertising Group, in the release. “This solution allows the relationship between brand advertiser and retailer to be more transparent than ever and deliver a more integrated, human experience to the consumer."

The clean room, powered by Epsilon, will enable advertisers to measure customer overlap while maintaining confidentiality of their first-party data.

Walgreens says the new ad solutions were created with its customers top of mind and privacy as a priority, using safety guardrails within the platform. WAG chose the Trade Desk solution as it leverages audiences stripped of directly identifiable information.

The self-serve programmatic offering will launch broadly in Walgreens’ second quarter, which last year ended on Feb. 28.

Walgreens Advertising Group launched in December 2020. Last year, WAG introduced a new suite of capabilities, going beyond the digital and programmatic realm and into advanced and audience-based television via over-the-top (OTT) media services offered directly via the internet, connected TVs (CTV) and traditional audience-based linear TV.