Many consumers get swept up in romantic comedies around the holiday season. Look no further than the Hallmark Channel, which is littered with movies like “A Not So Royal Christmas,” “Christmas with a Kiss” and “My Norwegian Holiday” this time of year. A new campaign from Walmart tests whether the popular genre can be an inspiration point for shopping, blending story-driven marketing content with shoppable capabilities that have been a growing focus for the big-box store as it tries to adapt to the digital era.  

“This is the next iteration of something that we’ve been doing for the last couple of years around bringing commerce to content,” said Walmart U.S. CMO William White in an interview. “That’s been an important part of our marketing journey: how we shorten that distance between inspiration and purchase.”

Over the next few weeks, the retailer will roll out a 23-part commercial series called “Add to Heart,” a pun on the add-to-cart feature. The “RomCommerce” effort running on TikTok, Roku, YouTube and Walmart’s owned social channels follows the story of Jessica, a New York designer who returns to her hometown and, after a run of mishaps, rekindles love with an old flame named Javi. 

That premise will sound familiar to genre aficionados, but “Add to Heart” carries an additional layer of interactivity for consumers on the hunt for gifts. Much of what is shown on screen, from the furniture to the outfits that the characters wear, is shoppable, with orders sourced and fulfilled by Walmart. In total, the series showcases an assortment of 330 products that are meant to strike a balance of “inspiration and impulse” and land at an appealing price point, according to White. The executive noted that the messaging does not put an “overt” emphasis on value, though that is a theme amplified in other aspects of Walmart’s holiday playbook.

While “Add to Heart” is meant to carry a broad audience appeal, White acknowledged that specific consumers gravitate toward connected commerce experiences. Shoppable holiday activations on TikTok, including livestreams and creator partnerships, have been a major part of Walmart’s overtures to Gen Z in recent years. 

“Certainly, the users within different platforms skew differently demographically,” said White. “That said, I do think that the shoppable social environments are more Gen Z and millennial than they are other demographics.”     

Bridging content and commerce

“Add to Heart” takes advantage of TikTok’s shoppable video format and Roku’s Ok to Text feature that lets viewers press a button on their remote to learn more about a product and make a purchase. Walmart last year began experimenting with Roku’s commerce-enabled CTV products.

The effort also represents TikTok’s first fully shoppable holiday series, aligning with the ByteDance-owned app’s revamped push to get social commerce to take off in the U.S, a market where the trend has yet to meaningfully take hold. Walmart in a press release cited Mintel data that indicates 58% of U.S. consumers are interested in shopping via social media this year.

Each of the “Add to Heart” episodes will run as paid ads on TikTok and live in a dedicated content hub on Roku. Consumers can track Jessica and Javi’s journey in its entirety or pick up the thread piecemeal, as each installment is meant to be engaging in its own right, White said. The campaign was made with Publicis Groupe agencies, including Fallon, Publicis NY, The Community, Contender and Digitas, and production partner Merman.

The first batch of episodes drops Dec. 2, followed by future releases on Dec. 5 and Dec. 8. Walmart on Nov. 30 will also host a live premiere event with appearances by real-life couples that met at its stores. Beyond driving transactions for the crucial Q4 period, a larger goal of the campaign is centered on strengthening Walmart’s online positioning. 

“Ultimately, I think it’s an opportunity to reframe for people, ‘Who is Walmart?’” said White. 

“If you go out and talk to customers, when you say ‘Walmart,’ the first thing they mention is the store. Which is great, it’s a huge asset for us,” the executive added. “But we do want to reframe for people that Walmart is a digital destination as well.”