Walmart+ taps Andy Cohen to help consumers survive Quitter’s Day
Walmart+ today (Jan. 10) launched a campaign timed to National Quitter's Day, the second Friday of the new year when many people typically give up on resolutions. "Save Your Resolutions" stars celebrity TV host Andy Cohen and aims to highlight the value propositions of the retailer's membership program for consumers who could be struggling to stay true to their promises for 2024.
"The benefits that Walmart+ offers can help [consumers] boost their mentality and keep them going through this quitting timeframe of the year, and we're hoping that this campaign resonates with the millions of shoppers who visit Walmart and encourages them to unlock the many benefits of a Walmart+ membership," said David Hartman, vice president for creative at Walmart.
Created with Deutsch LA, "Save Your Resolutions" is anchored by a hero spot that features Cohen alongside consumers at the moment they give up on new endeavors like yoga, tennis and painting, and connects the savings consumers can make with Walmart+ to activities like party hosting, road tripping and video streaming. The ad is accompanied by several vertical video spots for online video, one which sees Cohen preparing to hit the road with his two children. Along with Cohen, the campaign sees Walmart+ team with a slate of influencers across TikTok and Meta.
The partnership with Cohen, an ambassador for the New Year thanks to his co-hosting duties for "New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen," also includes an integration with "Watch What Happens Live," his popular Bravo talk show. The Jan. 30 episode — due to overlap with the premiere of reality show behemoth “Vanderpump Rules” — will feature a “Raising the bar” branded integration and a QR code overlay and will be amplified across Peacock, Facebook and beyond.
"Save Your Resolutions" continues the work Walmart+ began last year with its Mother's Day campaign, "Mother of All Savings Memberships," which saw the retailer tailoring its approach for a specific audience and messaging around benefits that most resonate with those consumers. Walmart+ will surpass 31 million users this year, according to estimates by Insider Intelligence.
For the new work, Walmart keyed in on top resolutions like saving money and eating healthy and connected it to the program's perks, like free grocery delivery. Plus, as part of the campaign, customers who enroll in an annual membership through Jan. 31 will receive $50 in Walmart Cash in their digital wallet in the Walmart app.
"There's a really great alignment between the benefits of the Walmart+ membership and the hurdles that our customers are facing during this time of year, so we try to be as relevant as possible to our customers' mindset during the time of the year when we launch these campaigns," Hartman said.
That need for relevancy is also present in the way that Walmart connects with consumers around pop culture. Recent efforts from the retailer included a "Mean Girls" reunion as part of a monthlong Black Friday campaign and a shoppable rom-com that directly tied content to commerce.
"One of the things that we talk about at Walmart is putting the brand in the culture and putting the culture in the brand," Hartman explained. "Those things are difficult to do, but I think we've proven that rooting the work in both culture and customer insights has helped us arrive at some really clever and insightful solutions that have also demonstrated the relevance of our brand and culture.”
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