Walmart is in talks to buy Vizio Holdings, a smart TV set manufacturer and burgeoning smart TV advertising platform, for $2 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
By press time, representatives from Walmart and Vizio had not returned Television News Daily’s calls.
Analysts say Walmart is attempting to compete with Amazon in terms of performance-based marketing, particularly in linked TV and video-based media sales.
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Walmart’s performance-based marketing strategy could grow to include media deals with advertisers on Vizio’s smart television platform. These purchases can then be linked to actual retail sales of the products in Walmart stores and through Walmart’s online business.
Walmart’s retail media network Walmart Connect has already proven successful, earning $2.7 billion in 2022, $3.5 billion in 2023, and is expected to reach $4 billion by 2024.
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Walmart is trying to grow its performance-based business. One analyst feels it has the potential to become a major marketer of video content.
“It would allow what has become a very large seller of performance-based media to become an even bigger one,” says Brian Wieser, media and financial analyst for Madison & Wall. “A Walmart (or Amazon, for that matter) is arguably better positioned to sell video-based media as part of a performance budget than a traditional seller of media, in part because marketers generally are more likely to believe Walmart’s claims and perceived performance, whether within Walmart or outside of it.”
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According to Wieser, Walmart has the potential to significantly increase Vizio’s annual earnings from advertising sales on its smart TV platform, which now totals roughly $500 million.
Walmart might generate additional revenue by selling marketplace information to media companies. “Vizio has itself become a critical source to the industry through its Inscape business.”
Vizio Holdings’ stock closed at $9.75 on Tuesday, up 25%.
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