Walmart+ and Documentary-Style Ads

Source: https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/10/a-different-kind-of-ad-campaign-for-a-different-kind-of-membership

On Thursday September 10^th, Walmart launched its first ad campaign for Walmart+, its new online membership service. The first commercial features 22 families experiencing many moments of typical family life, from the everyday to the significant ones. To capture these (and many more) interactions, the filmmakers acquired over 100 hours of content.

While Walmart is no stranger to content marketing, this campaign marks the brand’s first documentary-style ad campaign. They are betting that this authenticity will create a strong emotional response that consumers will associate with Walmart and will translate into higher e-commerce sales in a time when the big box retailer continues to compete with Amazon. Other brands, such as Verizon and Prudential, have successfully leveraged documentary-style ad campaigns in recent years as part of the broader trend in increased content marketing over traditional advertising. As consumers continue to value transparent communication from brands, documentary-style ad campaigns will likely only increase in popularity.