Happy Monday,
We hope everyone had a fun and safe Spring Break. The first day of the spring season is only a few short days away. Due to the much needed shift from cold to warm weather, this week the blog will focus on the strategies and techniques that companies use to advertise during the changing of seasons and in different seasons entirely.
Every company no matter the industry advertises their products that are currently in-season. For example JC Penney, advertises their winter clothing line at the end of fall and beginning of the winter season, their spring product line at the end of winter and beginning of the spring season, and so the cycle continues throughout the entirety of the year. According to Forbes, in addition to the changing of weather, certain seasons also include holidays and other factors that help companies adjust and succeed with seasonality.
In relation to the Elaboration-Likelihood Model (ELM) developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in the mid 70s, the changing of seasons initiates the necessary changes many companies makes in their advertising strategies to connect with their consumers. This connection between company and customer during a season or seasonal shift specifically relies on the concept that customers perceive information both centrally and peripherally depending on their involvement with that company. Consumers are aware that seasons change, but companies target key times to increase or decrease certain types of ads to provide the necessary information to these customers. During the changing of seasons companies increase the number of different advertisements as well as the quantity of commercial playing time. This increase relies on the Central Route of ELM. This strategy provides a message to the consumer that capitalizes on their motivation to process relevant information about both the changing of seasons and the new products the company is advertising for that upcoming season; whereas during the season, companies rely primarily on a peripheral route utilizing a few advertisements spaced out to attract customers that have little interest in those products (Griffin, 2011).
As consumers we all are aware of the changes companies make to advertise during different seasons and times in the year, but there is a lot more that goes into this process as we have briefly touched on. Currently, we know that surf shops and fishing gear stores are beginning their spring sales because these businesses pertain to our interests. Think about your favorite brand or store to purchase products from, what do you notice about their seasonal shifts? Do you buy their products during the season or during the off-season?
-Colby Cummings, Connor Gold, Chase Seymour
IMC Hawks Blog 
Seasonal advertisement is something that is noticeable in a wide variety of retail stores. A specific store that I have in mind is a local surf shop on Long Island where I live. While I was home this past week I knew this shop was pressing for the spring season and to get rid of their winter inventory because they were having some serious wet suit and winter gear sales. This is the best time, in my opinion, to shop for a new wet suit because this is when the best deals are. I normally shop for all of my winter accessories that are related to surfing right before spring hits because I’ll be able to get the best quality product for the least amount of money. The only drawback to this is that I end up going through the winter season with some poor gear or gear that is pretty beat up but at least I get to look forward to using better quality gear for the next year.
This concept is very interesting to think about. I never really had thought about how brands change for each season and it depends on what time of brand they are. I shop at J. Crew all the time, but I seem to shop during the season changes even more. I think this might be because I receive more promotional emails from them as well as they offer more sales. I feel like I shop more there during the season shifts because of the advertising they have as well as wanting new clothes to fit in with the new styles for the season. I feel like I will notice how brands change for the seasons more now that this has been pointed out.
Great points by the way! I work at a local chain retail store in Wilmington and every so often when I get the chance to watch tv I see the commercials for that company at least once or twice. I can definitely tell you that after watching the commercials I can tell a difference in how many customers come into the store to purchase or to order items that we may not have instock. During the season shifts I also see a lot of customers coming in for jackets or shorts depending on if we are transitioning from summer to fall or from winter to spring. It is really interesting to know what else the company does in order to promote the business and new styles!