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Sam’s Club Selects Arnold Worldwide and Horizon Next as New Agencies of Record

May 3, 2023

4 Min. Read
Sam's Club Logo with Arnold and Horizon Next

BENTONVILLE, Ark., May 3, 2023 — Sam’s Club today announced the selection of two new agencies of record with Arnold Worldwide leading creative and Horizon Next leading media planning and buying. The announcement comes after an extensive evaluation for agencies to support membership growth and drive brand equity. The agencies join Sam’s Club as the warehouse retailer continues to experience incredible growth over the last three years, with membership and revenue at all-time highs.

Sam’s Club’s growth gives the business an opportunity to engage members throughout their shopping journey in new and exciting ways by highlighting the quality, value, assortment and conveniences that have propelled traffic in clubs and online.

“We’re transforming the way that we do business and engage with our members through the value we deliver, the purpose we stand for, and the experiences we help create in our members lives,” said Ciara Anfield, Chief Member and Marketing Officer, Sam’s Club. “As we advance our capabilities and value proposition as a membership-based retailer, it’s imperative that we evolve our brand in parallel. We’re excited about the path ahead and look forward to working with our new partners to engage with our members in personal and effective ways.”

Anfield says that they were impressed with Arnold for the agency’s creative vision for authentic storytelling that connected directly with the core member base of Sam’s Club. Arnold’s area of focus for the brand will include driving brand affinity, building unaided awareness and effectively communicating the benefits of membership.

“Our partnership with Sam’s Club has been a true collaboration inspired by our teams’ shared ambition to create meaningful work that demonstrates the company’s purpose in a distinctive way,” said George Sargent, CEO Arnold Worldwide. “Sam’s Club brings people together to celebrate life’s exciting moments – big and small. We’re proud of our first work together, and we’re excited for what’s to come.”

Sam’s Club worked quickly to onboard Arnold and produce the first creative campaign to come from the new agency. “The work features a 60-second spot that embodies a message of togetherness,” said Jonathan Stiers, Chief Creative, Sam’s Club. “Sam’s Club has always helped make the moments in life easier for members, whether they’re celebrating, hosting or giving back. Our new ad celebrates the beauty of those everyday moments made possible by Sam’s Club.”

The spot will air across connected TV, online video, social, and the brand’s owned channels in a variety of formats beginning on May 8. Sam’s Club Vice President of Marketing Ashley Gibbs says that Horizon Next will focus on ensuring the brand is connecting to members through personalization. “Their digital-first approach and ability to deeply customize engagement through precision targeting of our member audiences, as well as their proven ability to utilize data to connect in the right channels at the right time was exactly what we were looking for in an agency partner,” added Gibbs.

“Sam’s Club is the perfect client for Horizon Next,” said Gene Turner, President, Horizon Next. “Their desire to connect with each member and potential member one-on-one, in a real and personalized manner is truly inspiring and should be the goal of every retailer today. Our proprietary ID framework, blu., will enable Sam’s to engage their current members while driving more membership signups. We are thrilled to be a part of their team.”

“We are grateful for every agency that participated in the review,” added Anfield. “We recognize the amount of work that was committed to the process and were impressed by the creativity and integrated approaches that were created by everyone that contributed. We especially want to thank VMLY&R and Haworth for their previous partnerships. Their work helped us reach members in new and thoughtful ways.”

Sam’s Club recently announced record member counts and return to physical club growth with revenues of $84 billion for fiscal year 2023. Sam’s Club also shared plans to open 30 new clubs, as well as new fulfillment and distribution centers over the next few years.

About Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club®, a division of Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products, savings and services to millions of members in nearly 600 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Now in its 40th year, Sam’s Club continues to redefine warehouse shopping with its highly curated assortment of high-quality fresh food and Member’s Mark™ items, in addition to market-leading technologies and services like Scan & Go, Curbside Pickup and home delivery service in select markets. To learn more about Sam's Club, visit the Sam's Club Newsroom, shop at SamsClub.com, and interact with Sam's Club on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

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