Target has recently come up with an
innovative way to make their advertisements stand out amongst the multitude of
holiday ads. They have taken steps
to combat the difficulty the advertising industry is having with tv shows
streaming online with few ads.
This year, Target has teamed up with ABC to create their own
narrative. They have borrowed the
characters from “The Middle”, “Back in the Game”, and “Modern Family” and created
a “gift it forward” plotline. The
characters in the commercials surprise each other with gifts while also
promoting Target’s slogan this year “My kind of holiday”. The creators hope to provide content
similar to what their viewers already enjoy watching on Wednesday nights. The commercials will only appear on tv
this Wednesday, and then will be promoted via social media.
We have discussed in class the
importance of target publics when constructing goals and objectives, and Target
has done an excellent job of this in their holiday campaign. They have used the characters that
their audience members already love as well as a narrative framework to allow
for further elaboration. Target
hopes that the commercials will “make people smile” and get them thinking about
Target and holiday shopping. It is
strategic of them to only show the commercials once before solely promoting
them on social media. This allows
for the public to actively seek out the advertisements and also to share them with
their friends.
How effective do you think this
campaign will be?
Should other companies consider using
such elaborate advertising measures (like teaming up with ABC) in future
campaigns?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/business/media/commercial-breaks-that-keep-a-story-going.html?ref=business
http://adage.com/article/news/retail-reversal-target-unwraps-holiday-ads-early/237769/
I think this campaign will be very effective in reaching target audiences, and I think only showing it once is a great idea as well. They could, in theory, air the commercials on ABC each night the shows are on until Christmas. But, that might be a little bit too much for the viewers of these shows, and they might feel they are being bombarded by Target each week.
ReplyDeleteI think other companies should consider this tactic, but only if they team up with products that make sense with the characters of the show. I feel like the way for these alliances to work is if the people watching the show to identify the product with their beloved characters. Next up, possibly, the Big Bang Theory and comic book or toy stores.