As Back-to-School Season Starts, EDO Rates Walmart As Most Effective Convergent TV Advertiser Among Department Stores

Getty staffers get reach for back to school rush
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Walmart was the most effective convergent TV advertiser in the second quarter according to EDO, a measurement firm specializing in predicting how well commercials perform.

Walmart’s ads were 144% more effective than the average for the retail category, EDO said.

Following Walmart in convergent TV ad performance were Target, Old Navy, Kohl’s and T.J. Maxx.

On average, department store streaming TV ads were 19% more effective than their convergent average, which includes both linear and streaming commercials.

But different stores followed different strategies and got different results.

Target’s linear TV ads outperformed its own convergent TV average by 7.5%, EDO found.

On the other hand at Marshalls, streaming TV outperformed its convergent TV average by 43%.

“With a short window to engage consumers during the pivotal back-to-school season, retailers need to know whether their ads are making an impact, and they need to know while there’s still time to adjust their campaigns,” said Laura Grover, EDO’s senior , Head of Client Solutions. “By measuring and optimizing for predictive outcomes like brand searches and website visits, Department store brands can put themselves in the best possible position to generate a strong return on investment from their high-volume back-to-school campaigns.”

Women over 65 years of age were most likely to engage with department store ads in the second quarter, followed by 18 to 24 year old men and women 65 plus.

The hardest to engage with were men and women in the 25 to 44 year old demographic.

Consumer engaged with department store ads most on Thursdays, followed by Tuesdays and Wednesdays, according to the EDO report.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.