Walmart is reworking an iconic piece of pop culture history to bolster its holiday marketing and a “Who Knew?” brand platform starring Walton Goggins. The goal is to offer a unified marketing push with multigenerational appeal throughout the crucial gift-giving season.
The retailer in the past ran separate campaigns around different legs of the holiday season, such as the ramp-up to Black Friday, but has leveraged “Who Knew?” to streamline its storytelling. “Who Knew?,” which launched last year, was developed to dispel misperceptions about the brand and position it as more style- and trend-forward as Walmart wins over higher-income shoppers.
“The holidays are an incredibly cluttered period of time from an advertising standpoint, and so the ability to break through is really important,” Walmart CMO William White said in an interview. “Having one [theme], one campaign throughout the season allows a really quick read for customers to know it's Walmart.”
After transforming into classic Dr. Seuss character the Grinch in Walmart's holiday ads last year, Goggins has swapped out the furry green suit for the Victorian era digs of “The Muppet Christmas Carol.” He plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a character originally from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” alongside a cast of Muppets including Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. Also appearing is actor Stephanie Beatriz, another “Who Knew?” fixture who plays Scrooge’s niece and will lead Spanish-language spots.
The trio of specters haunting Scrooge have been themed around key seasonal beats: a ghost who showcases gift ideas, one who underscores savings available during Black Friday and Cyber Monday and another who promotes last-minute gifting, including Walmart Express Delivery in 30 minutes or less. Over the course of the campaign, Goggins’ Scrooge shifts from a humbug attitude to appreciation for Walmart, a journey that reflects the larger “Who Knew?” concept.
“We love ‘A Christmas Carol’ as a story because it's a reappraisal story, and the ‘Who Knew?’ campaign is a reappraisal story for us as well,” said White.
Walmart meets the Muppets
“A Who Knew Carol” was created with Publicis Groupe agencies Fallon, Leo New York, The Community, Digitas and Zenith. White views the Muppets as carrying broad consumer appeal and fresh relevance following a TV special featuring Sabrina Carpenter and their cameo at the World Cup final halftime show.
Walmart teased the collaboration in a social video last week in which Goggins meets with Kermit on a studio lot. The larger stage for a “A Who Knew Carol” is set in a long-form video debuting Monday that recreates “Scrooge,” the opening song from the original “The Muppet Christmas Carol.”
Physical sets echo the look of the 1992 film while the script winks to the retailer, such as when Rizzo the Rat complains that Walmart didn’t exist during the time period. Muppets not present in the original movie, notably Pepe the King Prawn, appear in the campaign to capitalize on their presence in meme culture, per Fallon CEO Nikki Baker. A series of additional videos and social content will be released throughout Q4.
The full media plan spans broadcast TV, streaming, online video, social, out-of-home, audio, podcasts, digital and creator networks. The concept will factor into Walmart’s NFL integrations, with on-air personalities referencing the campaign. Walmart is also leaning more into creators as part of a push to market itself as a fashion destination. On the style front, Walmart will deploy Miss Piggy in its holiday marketing, but kept mum on details.
“[Creators] are helping to drive reappraisal, they're helping to drive awareness and they're driving conversion all within one one moment, and so it's an important part of our media mix,” said White.
Navigating the holidays
Retailers are entering the thick of a Q4 period where consumer sentiment around the economy remains sour, though the category could be insulated from some of those headwinds. Holiday spending on retail goods is expected to climb 10% year over year, according to Deloitte surveys. Walmart is coming off a robust fiscal Q2, when total revenue rose 5.9% to $187.9 billion. E-commerce grew 24% YoY and now represents nearly one-quarter of sales in the U.S., double its share from five years ago.
Target, Walmart’s chief brick-and-mortar rival, will begin ramping up its holiday marketing early in November. The brand is running a campaign centered on a fictional academy where an array of departments and faculty members specialize in different types of gift-giving.
“A Christmas Carol” is often revisited around the holidays, but it could receive additional attention this year. A new take on the tale titled “Ebenezer” stars Johnny Depp as Scrooge and is being marketed as a comeback moment for the actor following years of legal troubles. “Ebenezer” lands in theaters Nov. 13.
“I think it'll be a great momentum to the campaign and people will be engaged in the IP. That's a nice add-on” said White.
