In response, Walmart developed 23 episodes of its own short-form romantic comedy, which it released across social media channels and Roku last December.
Within that were over 300 items that could be bought through Walmart, bringing a whole new dimension to product placement.
Wayfair’s own content evolution
The current Wayfair content strategy aims to improve its storytelling to be helpful to consumers and change how they think of the brand, offering inspiration across its own channels while using partner and creator affiliate channels to amplify that messaging and drive commerce.
One creator partnership that the company has held in place for years is with singer and presenter Kelly Clarkson, who fronts the company’s television campaigns, while another more recent recruit has seen it partner with the perhaps surprising choice of DJ, rapper and producer Lil Jon at the start of this year in a pilot for a new series.
That content series, “I Love My ___,” is part of a new social-first series where creators and personalities declare their love for a product in their home that means a lot to them, driving viewers to potentially seek it out and buy it themselves through Wayfair.
Lil Jon chose his bar cart, which allowed Wayfair to curate a collection on its site, with the artist driving traffic to it through an affiliate link, helping generate upper-funnel awareness.
“We haven’t been known for that deep product storytelling,” admitted Frias of the marketplace. But its influencer partnerships are evolving, with an eye on injecting seasonality into its content output. He also revealed that the content series was produced without any great investment, while drawing on community and culture for engagement.
“Tapping influencers allows us to fast-track that piece of our business and be able to resonate with different segments or consumers through a seasonal lens, in addition to an evergreen standpoint,” he added. “Storytelling is a new muscle that we’re trying to build. So this allowed us to fast-track that.”
