Learn how Best Buy is tapping its “deep relationships” for a new in-house media company and how the move will help it diversify the industry and create equitable opportunities.

Best Buy is tapping its “deep relationships” with people who buy consumer technology for a new in-house media company.

Best Buy Ads will help consumers discover new and relevant products, services and offers, the retailer said. “We partner with the brands that matter to you and, based on our deep customer relationships and insights, provide meaningful messages to you at the right times.”

Almost three-quarters (74%) of brands say they have dedicated budgets for retail media networks, and these networks now rank fifth in terms of budget allocation, behind digital video, paid social, digital display, and paid search, according to data from digital ad company The Trade Desk. Brands see retail data as effective in both building brands and driving conversions, it found: 39% of marketers surveyed said they use it to drive brand equity scores, while 44% said they now use retail data to track sales growth.

Best Buy spent the past few years building a business that can analyze the data from its customer relationships and recommend relevant ways to connect with shoppers based on cutting-edge math and data science, it said. The retailer interacts with customers 3 billion times a year — in stores, their homes and online.

“These relationships last longer and run deeper than most,” Best Buy said. “Knowing our customers on this level means we can help the brands you love cut through the clutter with ads that won’t waste your time… That’s a valuable service for our partner brands (and another revenue stream for us).”

Additionally, the retailer said the move will help it diversify the industry and create equitable opportunities, noting that in the advertising industry alone, 73% of hires are white, per labor market data.

With the help of 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. 

Starting in February 2022, this advertising program will help strengthen skills used in that industry. Advertising roles encompass a wide range of skillsets, many of which are rooted in the creative pursuits that draw youth to the Teen Tech Centers​.

“We 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,” it said.

By: Jamie Grill-Goodman