Walgreens Advertising Group aims to help brands personalize shopping

Walgreens is joining the increasingly crowded field of drug and grocery chains that open their customer base to targeted advertisements from suppliers.

The drug store giant is launching the Walgreens Advertising Group, or Wag, a full-service, personalization-driven advertising offering based on the retailer’s customer insights and first-party data. Wag aims to help brands maximize ROI through data-led execution and optimization on Walgreens-owned platforms and through other external channels.

Several other major retailers in the drug and grocery verticals have provided advertisers with direct digital access to their customers in the past year, including CVS Pharmacy, Rite Aid and Kroger. 

By combining the scale of more than 9,000 stores and over 100 million loyalty members with advanced data modeling, wag directly connects custom-built audiences to advertising platforms. In addition to Walgreens’ digital platforms and stores, wag covers channels including digital display, video, social, streaming audio, and email. 

Wag also features access to the Walgreens Programmatic Demand Side Platform (DSP) with SKU-level, real-time optimization based on daily transactions; as well as the closed-loop measurement of customers’ end-to-end shopping journeys.

“At Walgreens, we have an unparalleled insight into consumers’ needs and shopping preferences when it comes to health and wellness items and everyday needs,” said Luke Kigel, vice president of Walgreens integrated media and head of Walgreens Advertising Group. “Leveraging advanced technology to unlock the power of our first-party data, we can help brands accelerate ROI by delivering relevant and personalized experiences to their highest-value consumers.”