• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 4, 2022

Best Buy stepped into the media business Tuesday, announcing Best Buy Ads. The company joins other retailers such as Albertsons, Walmart, Target and others that have built in-house advertising businesses.

The idea behind the technology is to help consumers search and discover the most innovative products through advertising. The announcement was made a day before the opening of the 2022 CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

Keith Bryan, president of Best Buy Ads, media strategy and CRM, believes Best Buy Ads will enable the company to build a stronger and more unique relationship with its customers.

“Technology is all around us — it’s in our cars, our kitchens, and more than ever, how our families are working and learning at home. With Best Buy Ads, brands can be right there alongside our customers as they adapt and go about their lives,” he wrote in an email to Search & Performance Marketing Daily.

Loyalty counts. Best Buy interacts with its customers 3 billion times annually, in its stores, in their homes and online.

The technology supporting the Best Buy Ads business can analyze the data from billions of interactions and customer relationships and recommend relevant ways to connect brands with consumers through data science.

Best Buy counts 1.5 million online transactions weekly, as well as 20 million unique annual app visitors, 70 million weekly app page views, and 15 billion website page views annually -- and 55 million email marketable customers.

To reach these customers, Best Buy uses search ads to enable brands to connect with shoppers. Personalized ads use paid search to connect with consumers, along with sponsored products, display ads, video ads, social ads and store ads.

There is also a dedicated reporting and insights team that taps into first-party data and advanced analytics to drive performance.

The big-box technology retailer, which boasts 180 million customers, has also made a pledge to diversity by creating equitable opportunities. In the announcement, the company pointed to labor-market data stating that in the advertising industry, 73% of employees are Caucasian.

In December 2020, the company committed $44 million, wrapped in a five-year plan, to address underrepresentation, technology inequities and create educational and career opportunities for those who need it most. With the help from partners and the Best Buy Foundation, Best Buy Ads is launching an advertising-focused Career Pathways program through Best Buy Teen Tech Center locations across the country.

These are places where teens in disinvested communities can find inspiration and resources to channel their talents, energy and ideas into brighter futures. 

It all begins in February 2022. The advertising program aims to strengthen skills used in media, and will build on existing partnerships with nonprofits and program partners, as well as engage with advertising agencies, media firms, and brands to create opportunities and a pipeline of fresh, diverse talent for advertising industry careers.