Walmart’s ads deemed more effective than competitors’

Walmart has long promised consumers value with its “every day low prices,” and when it comes to where and when it places ads, the retailer seems to be getting the most bang for its buck, too.

Compared to the average of other department stores, Walmart’s spots on both linear and streaming TV in Q2 were 144% more effective. So says new data from EDO, a platform that calculates internet searches for advertisers in a two- to five-minute period after their commercials air.

The next most effective advertiser was Target, followed by Old Navy, Kohl’s, and TJ Maxx.

Dayparts unknown: While having great creative certainly doesn’t hurt, part of what makes some commercials more sticky than others is when the advertisers choose to place them. Like the Boomtown Rats, viewers of department store TV ads apparently don’t like Mondays—ad effectiveness on that day during Q2 was 6% less effective than the average. The best day to place an ad in the category was Thursday, when ads were 5% more effective.

We’re among friends, so let’s talk about dayparts. The least effective time to place ads was during the unsavory-sounding “late fringe,” when ads were 40% less effective than the average, with overnight (the period that follows late fringe) close behind, when they were 37% less effective.

The most effective time was during “early fringe,” which precedes prime time, when ads were 15% more effective than average, followed by afternoon, when they were 14% more effective.

Land of the free (with purchase): Not that it’s going to stamp it on license plates, but Nebraska was the state where ads were the most effective: Residents were 50% more likely to be engaged by them than the average. In Wyoming, meanwhile, residents seemed more likely to see commercials as cues for bathroom breaks; ads there were 64% less effective than the average.