• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, August 26, 2020

Loyalty card data has become the key for large retailers like CVS Pharmacy and Walmart to successfully target consumers with relevant ads without relying on third-party cookies.

CVS Pharmacy this week introduced a media network that enables brands to buy advertising space online and offline. The company plans to lean on its online and offline loyalty data as cookies begin to disappear.

The CVS Media Exchange gives brands access to a variety of channels such as in-store ads, banner ads on cvs.com, programmatic, social media, video, and search. Online platforms include Google, Facebook and Instagram, as well as placement on its own website.

To personalize the ad targeting, CVS plans to use more than two decades of data from in-store and online transactions that the company leverages to help brands target the most appropriate audience and media platforms for a specific campaign.

The company estimates 76% of the U.S. population lives within five miles of one of its brick-and-mortar stores. 

Now the company is looking for an analytics director and marketing director with experience in data analytics and CMX technology for reporting and measurement to support its nearly launched media exchange program.

Consumers seem more willing to give up their data for something in return. The type of loyalty programs enticing U.S. internet users to buy more vary. Some 92% said free shipping, 91% said product discounts and promotions, 69% said gift cards, 25% said added membership benefits, 10% said personalized perks, and 4% said other, according to eMarketer, citing CGS’s 2020 State of U.S. eCommerce Consumer Survey published in April.

CVS is not the only mega retailer to rely on loyalty and in-house media networks.

In June Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), the Kroger Co.’s media advertising arm, added a way to prove performance of advanced TV buys on Roku and addressable TV through AT&T's Xandr. The agency will report on the results and tie the advertising views directly to in-store purchases.

Then there’s Walmart. Earlier this year, Walmart launched an Ad Center Performance Dashboard available to advertisers running display or sponsored products campaigns.

Advertisers access Performance Dashboards through the Walmart Ad Center. The single sign-on, self-serve platform aims to help advertisers manage and measure campaigns in one place. There are two Performance Dashboards -- one dashboard for Display and one for Sponsored Products. Key performance indicators and metrics, such as impressions, clicks and conversion rates, are featured in each dashboard based on the campaign type.

Walmart Media Group ran beta tests with more than a dozen large advertisers including Nestlé Purina, Procter & Gamble, Mondelez and Clorox.