Why the Walmart VIZIO deal opens up whole new world of advertising

Walmart finalized its $2.3 billion acquisition of VIZIO. And for for Walmart, this deal is clearly about more than selling TVs.

Walmart can match its shopping transaction data with Vizio’s data on who’s watching what to make things like ad targeting much more precise.

And that’s a big deal for the retailer, as almost a third of its operating income in the last quarter, about 2 billion dollars, came through advertising. This sets up Walmart’s business of the future.

Joel Cox, co-founder and EVP of innovation and strategy at media agency Strategus, breaks down this fusing of retail media and streaming on this week's episode of The Current Report. Cox says this deal is bigger than might initially meet the eye because non-endemic advertisers can connect to Walmart and Vizio's data to leverage their strategies.