Pursuant Health, Vistar Media Look to Change How Brands Connect In-Store

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In a move that could impact the way marketers connect with more than 30 million shoppers inside physical stores around the country, Pursuant Health is partnering with the location-based advertising technology firm Vistar Media to provide better access to its digital advertising inventory. The new partnership was announced just this morning.

Pursuant Health, which was known as SoloHealth until the company changed its name in 2015, conducts “population level health screenings” with more than 3,600 self-service health kiosks. Its kiosks are located inside Pavilions, Randalls, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Vons, and Walmart stores. For the brands sold inside these stores, Pursuant’s kiosks offer a way to educate and influence consumers in the moments before they make purchasing decisions.

With this new integration, Pursuant is leveraging Vistar’s full software solution, including Vistar’s player software Cortex and its digital-out-of-home (DOOH) ad server.

Pursuant’s inventory will be available through Vistar’s platform DOOH media, and media buyers will have the option of placing buys programmatically through Vistar’s ad exchange or through private marketplace deals. The partnership will also open up channels to better connect consumers with the types of health-focused messaging they would typically look for inside pharmacies.

“Being able to incorporate real-time user feedback and engagement from those interactive screens into the advertisement targeting is a unique application of programmatic technology and a great example of how smart technology can help media owners enhance the value of their networks,” said Vistar’s Chief Revenue Officer, Matt Schuster.

The partnership between Pursuant and Vistar evolved out of a conversation at the DPAA’s Video Everywhere Summit, where Pursuant was looking for new technological solutions for powering its network that could support the interactive experience and enable the company to monetize through programmatic advertising.

“As we continued discussions, it became apparent that our Cortex and ad serving solutions were well matched to their needs,” Schuster said. “We are thrilled to be adding their inventory—which reaches a highly valuable audience at the point of purchase—to our exchange.”

Schuster anticipates that this type of application could open the door for more robust ad delivery across a variety of public-facing kiosk networks in the future.

In addition to having a large footprint of programmatically accessible out-of-home inventory, Vistar also uses geospatial technology to give marketers a way to target consumers across multiple screens. Integrating with Pursuant means brand marketers will have even more relevant inventory to pull from.

Pursuant made headlines late last year when it rolled out a first-of-its-kind self-service retinal screening kiosk. However, it’s now the company’s marketing platform that’s changing the way brands connect with consumers.

Although Schuster said it’s always interesting to work with companies that operate in the health industry, there have been some additional hurdles concerning legal requirements and disclosures.

“We have worked with Pursuant Health to ensure that all such ad placements are accompanied with the necessary disclosure statements,” he said. “Our ad server enables for the seamless delivery of companion content with such an ad placement, helping to make sure the customer enjoys an engaging and relevant experience while still maintaining compliance.”

Schuster says this latest partnership speaks to Vistar’s focus on providing solutions that elevate the entire DOOH industry.

“We want to give media owners access to the same tools, ad serving capabilities, and measurement solutions that can fuel the continued growth of the overall OOH industry,” he said. “We believe that our access to unique sources of digital demand, coupled with our industry-leading ad tech, will ensure media owners generate the highest CPMs, increase revenues, and expand their digital footprints—a win-win for everyone.”

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.

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Stephanie Miles is a journalist who covers personal finance, technology, and real estate. As Street Fight’s senior editor, she is particularly interested in how local merchants and national brands are utilizing hyperlocal technology to reach consumers. She has written for FHM, the Daily News, Working World, Gawker, Cityfile, and Recessionwire.