Strategic Brand Partnerships: Walmart and Buzzfeed
We’ve already discussed during this article series how strategic brand partnerships can provide a way to augment instore experiences and provide new and interesting customer segments.
Interesting and innovative collaborations can bring together brands which on the surface may not seem congruent with one another but, with a little out-of-the-box thinking, can create novel and intriguing marketing campaigns which bring two disparate audiences together for the betterment of both companies.
This is extremely evident in the "Tasty" collaboration established by online media giant Buzzfeed and retail titan Walmart – two brands you wouldn’t instinctively put in the same room together but have seen great result from collaborating.
Walmart and Buzzfeed
Initially launched in 2020, this innovative partnership between two of the most recognizable brands in grocery retail and online content respectively saw Buzzfeed’s Tasty app transform from a simple recipe platform into a new method for accessing Walmart’s vast range of food products.
The partnership means users of the BuzzFeed Tasty app can purchase related Walmart products such as kitchen appliances, tools, and ultimately food items directly from it. This means a customer can spot a recipe they want to try out and can immediately place an order for everything they require to create it at home in their own kitchen.
The grocery integration is available on Tasty’s more than 2,000 recipe videos, which have typical views reaching into the millions, with home cooks able to add items instantly for store pickup from their local Walmart outlet.
"The partnership is a natural fit," said former VP of Ecommerce, Mobile, and Digital Marketing for Walmart, Sumaiya Balbale at the time. "By introducing the ability to shop for products directly from the Tasty app, this partnership combines content and commerce to create a convenient and fun experience for users."
The collaboration between Walmart and Buzzfeed has proved so successful that the two companies have recently announced their intention to expand the integration even further and provide Tasty users and Walmart customers with even more options when using the recipe app.
Tasty
Announced at the end of Q3 2021, the expanded integration will see BuzzFeed supercharge the Tasty/Walmart offering with new add-to-bag capabilities and ad sales opportunities.
"Working with advertising platform AdAdapted and recipe shopping technology provider Northfork, Buzzfeed is providing consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands with the opportunity to promote products through Tasty content," the company announced in a press release. "Through this integration, consumers will be able to add items featured in articles and videos on the Tasty app to their shopping carts in one click. When they are ready to check out, they will be taken to Walmart’s website or app to complete the purchase for pickup or delivery."
Walmart has also been expanding ever further into the world of contextual commerce. In addition to partnerships such as the Tasty app integration, the retailer has been crafting its own shoppable content, including star-studded video series, such as its Cookshop culinary videos for adults or its Make It with Walmart activities for children.
On top of that Walmart has also recently established a partnership with Meredith with the intention of establishing further shoppable integrations across the media giant’s brand portfolio. For example, On September 29, 2021, Walmart hosted a livestream pet food shopping event with TV personality Rachael Ray, where viewers could purchase featured pet food products directly through the livestream and mark them for home delivery or click and collect from their local store.
"Consumers today are increasingly looking to shop in the moment," said Chief Marketing Officer at Walmart, William White. "I think whether it’s their behaviors that are pushing it or the platforms that are pushing it, as a space, we’re moving in that direction. And I think you’re seeing more and more platforms and consumers driving to the space of social commerce."
A previous similar event hosted by Walmart on GenZ dominated social media platform TikTok saw viewership exceed expectations to the tune of around 7,000 additional participants and followers of the retailer’s social media accounts grow by 25%.
Final Thoughts
The partnership between Walmart and Buzzfeed only serves to demonstrate how powerful these brand collaborations can be. Searching for opportunities to bring an audience directly from one brand to another and remove barriers between the desire to make a purchase and hitting the checkout button, has the potential to boost revenue and the audience for all parties involved.
Contextual commerce such as that demonstrated in the collaborations described above are the perfect way to achieve these goals.
Strategic collaborations and contextual commerce are set to be hot topics at Future Stores Seattle 2022, taking place in July at The Sheraton, Seattle.
Download the agenda today for more information and insights.