Twist Image is ready to help Walmart Canada make “significant strides” in the digital realm, said Mitch Joel, president of the agency which just won the retail giant’s digital assignment in a competitive review.
Twist Image was one of three agencies shortlisted for the assignment, said Susan Schutta, director of corporate affairs for Walmart. It is the first time the company, which is headquartered in Mississauga, has worked with a dedicated digital agency in Canada.
Joel said the agency’s objective is to ensure that Walmart’s digital presence matches its considerable strength in the bricks and mortar environment. “I think that Walmart is well poised to go beyond being just a digital retailer and become a very powerful digital brand in Canada,” he said.
Twist Image will oversee all aspects of the “digital ecosystem” for Walmart, said Joel, including the Walmart.ca website and its recently launched e-commerce capabilities, to mobile and social media.
Walmart Canada introduced e-commerce capabilities to its website in September, and Schutta said “e-commerce events” around occasions such as “Black Friday” and Boxing Day were “off the charts successful.”
Twist Image is currently in the midst of an “on-boarding” process, but Joel told Marketing that Walmart has some “immediate campaign needs” it is keen to have in market by late April or early May. Joel wouldn’t disclose the nature of the work, but said it is “campaign initiated” and will lead into a platform that will provide an “interesting white space” for the company.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for a brand that has a lot of goodwill with Canadians,” said Joel of the assignment. “The number of Canadians that shop at Walmart is staggering, and the opportunity to connect with those consumers, wherever they may be, is really the last mile for them. That’s what we’re here to run with them.”
Schutta said individual countries have considerable autonomy within Walmart’s corporate hierarchy, bearing responsibility for developing everything from merchandising to digital strategies that are best suited to each marketplace.
Digital, she said, continues to be a key area of focus for the company in Canada. “We know our customers are looking for convenience and everyday low prices, and if we can open up another channel to deliver that, that’s what we’re going to do,” she said.
The Walmart win confirms Twist Image’s strength in the retail environment, said Joel. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the thought leadership realm in retail, whether it’s the Retail Council of Canada or [its U.S. counterpart] the National Retail Federation. This is real validation that we understand that space, love that space and have experience in that space,” he said. “This will cement our reputation in that arena.”
While the agency is not bringing in new staff specifically to service the Walmart account, Joel said there have been a number of new hires as a result of “general growth,” some of who will “definitely” work on the newest assignment. Twist Image currently employs approximately 120 people at its offices in Montreal and Toronto.
Joel predicted that 2012 would be one of Twist Image’s “biggest years,” citing its win of the Walmart assignment and being named social media for C2-MTL–a conference focused on how creativity can drive organizations’ strategic development–early last month.
