Walmart is making an exciting shift in its holiday shopping strategy with its latest Black Friday campaign, which aims to blend advertising with entertainment. Launched on November 11, the campaign titled “Deals of Desire” features a 10-part series that pays tribute to various entertainment genres while showcasing Walmart’s deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The series kicks off with the humorous episode “Sister, Swindler,” which stars Lisa Rinna, renowned for her roles in the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and the iconic series “Melrose Place.” In this playful soap opera spoof, Rinna’s character faces unexpected surprises involving a secret twin who sports more fashionable shoes, with each plot twist cleverly revealing a Walmart deal.
Throughout the month of November, additional episodes will highlight more products in genres such as period dramas, Westerns, supernatural tales, and action scenes. Notable stars including Anthony Ramos, Chad Michael Murray, Ian Somerhalder, Taye Diggs, and Walton Goggins will appear, each fitting into the theme of their respective episodes.
Walmart refers to this innovative marketing strategy as “advert-tainment,” a combination of traditional advertising and entertainment designed to engage customers without overwhelming them. Courtney Carlson, Walmart’s senior vice president of marketing, expressed the campaign’s aim to capture the audience’s attention while ensuring it feels entertaining rather than overly promotional.
Walmart has successfully integrated nostalgia and pop culture into its holiday campaigns in previous years, like the 2022 Mean Girls reunion and a 23-part “rom-commerce” series reminiscent of Hallmark holiday movies.
This strategy of merging entertainment with marketing is increasingly popular among brands, as demonstrated by CeraVe’s own soap opera and romcom spoofs. Created by agencies under Publicis Groupe, Walmart’s campaign will extend across multiple platforms, including television, cinemas, YouTube, and TikTok.
In addition to its engaging promotional content, Walmart is also enhancing its generative AI-powered shopping assistant to help customers find the perfect gifts.
This fresh approach to holiday shopping not only entertains but also encourages customer engagement, showing Walmart’s commitment to delivering a memorable shopping experience.
In a time when consumers are looking for unique and entertaining ways to shop, Walmart’s focus on blending entertainment with sales presents a hopeful and innovative avenue for both the brand and its customers.