Justin Breton, Walmart: Building Deeper Brand Engagement With Customers in The Metaverse

Why does the world’s biggest company launch into the metaverse? What’s their approach? How does it go? What are they learning?
This week, our guest on Web 2.5 is Justin Breton, the Director of Brand Experiences & Strategic Partnerships at Walmart. Justin and his team are responsible for driving meaningful engagement with Walmart customers via brand engagement programs, including shoppable livestreams, augmented reality activations, and now, Walmart’s presence in the metaverse.
Justin was behind the launch of Walmart’s first foray into the metaverse with two immersive experiences on Roblox — Walmart Land & Walmart Universe of Play. Across both spaces, Walmart converted its store “aisles” into virtual “isles” with the ability to explore fashion, style, beauty, entertainment, toys, and more – all in a virtual world shaped like the Walmart logo.
In this episode, Justin gives Dana Hork, the show’s host and the former head of Walmart’s social media, a behind-the-scenes view into everything from what Walmart’s doing, why they are doing it, and what they’ve learned along the way. It’s jam-packed with insights helpful for brands big and small exploring online virtual experiences.
DISCLOSURE: Host Dana Hork is a former Walmart employee and, at the time this episode initially aired, owned Walmart stock obtained during her tenure at the company. For more information, see web2point5.io/disclosures.
Show Notes:0:00 Show intro
0:53 Dana shares her experience working for Walmart
1:15 Justin explains his role and his team’s remit for driving brand engagement
1:56 About shoppable livestreams
2:13 About virtual experiences like Roblox
2:42 How the metaverse came into consideration for Walmart
3:27 Why Walmart decided to partner with Roblox
4:49 Former Walmart CMO, Barb Messing, is now the CMO at Roblox
5:34 Justin shares his Web3 journey (he’s a newbie)
6:37 Walmart’s exploration of NFTs, DAOs, and other dimensions of Web3
8:15 An overview of Walmart’s Roblox activations
9:48 Walmart and Roblox’s goals for the launch
10:53 An overview of Walmart Land
12:00 An overview of Walmart Universe of Play
12:31 How Justin’s team tackled merchandising
14:27 Connecting (or not) the virtual world and physical goods via transactions
14:57 How customer acquisition works in the metaverse16:29 An overview of the quantitative and qualitative performance of Walmart’s Roblox experiences
19:31 Justin explains what drives favorability and unfavorability
20:44 Walmart’s partners for the Roblox activations
21:35 How platforms are attracting brands (or the other way around)
23:41 Walmart’s Decentraland + Sabrina Carpenter partnership
25:12 The insights that drove a partnership with Roblox
26:02 Justin compares his expectations with the outcomes of the activations
27:20 Justin shares advice for other metaverse builders
28:30 The flexibility of the metaverse for brands
29:25 How to access Walmart’s Roblox experiences
29:50 Wrap-up
30:20 Closing
Resources:
Walmart Land: https://www.roblox.com/g

Show Website:
https://www.web2point5.io
Subscribe to Show Newsletter:
https://newsletter.web2point5.io/subscribe
Show Credits:
Dana Hork (Founder, Host, Producer)
Ron Passaro (Co-Producer/Editor)
Seton Rossini (Brand Design/Cover Art)
DISCLAIMER: This show is strictly educational. None of this is financial, tax, or investment advice — and not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please always do your own research. For important disclosures, see web2point5.io/disclosures.