Walmart has just increased its presence in the world of mobile and social advertising.
The retail giant purchased a company called OneRiant, which specializes in the new ad mediums. Specifically, it uses technology that delivers advertising to users that are relevant and personal to them.
The firm’s strategies are used for companies to get stronger reactions from consumers on Facebook and mobile devices.
While Walmart’s enormous marketing budget plasters ads all over TV and the Internet, the company has a much wider advertising message and hasn’t really focused on connecting with individual customers.
Its acquisition of OneRiot will seek to change that, in addition to proving to the younger demographic that Walmart can be hip and cool as well.
“OneRiot has developed some pretty nifty technology that analyzes social media signals from popular networks like Twitter and Facebook to deliver ads that are relevant to consumers’ interests. As our teams debated the finer points of Big Data, Fast Data, and machine learning technologies, it became clear to us that we could find no better colleagues than the guys at OneRiot,” said Walmart in a statement.
The retailer also purchased a company called Kosmix earlier this year – another player in the social media space. In addition, the retailer has been pushing forward in its digital presence as well. The company’s Vudu video streaming service continues to have the largest collection of pay-per-view streaming videos in both HD and 3D, and is available on TV’s, set-top boxes, and game consoles.
So just because Walmart is the epitome of old-fashioned brick-and-mortar stores, it is certainly keeping up with the changing times as well.
