IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: back-to-school

  • Target’s Back-To-School Commercials Set High Standard For Competitors

    Target and Walmart are arguably the two most popular shopping venues for back-to-school shopping across many grade levels. Studies have been conducted to see how each company’s’ marketing tactics reflect in their prices. In 2012, Time reported that overall, Target saved customers only 46 cents for every 100 dollars spent, however, “what appears to have put Target ahead, at least for the time being, is a blitz of seasonal and back-to-school discounts and promotions.”

    Target has done it again this year with its back-to-school themed television commercials that are directed towards students and parents alike. The majority of Target’s commercials seek to reach elementary and middle school aged kids, depicting real-life scenarios of heading back-to-school.

    Through epideictic rhetoric, Target’s back-to-school advertisements illustrate a world that children want to live in now, whether it’s going back to school with the perfect supplies or by conquering his or her fears. Many children experience a sense of ‘back-to-school fever’ and Target hones on that.

    Although, the company has gone further this year, enlisting songs circa 1981 to serve as the background music of the commercials. The parental demographic likely went to school themselves during this time and can easily recognize the songs “I just Can’t Get Enough” by Depeche Mode and “Kids in America” by Kim Wilde. Target has personalized this media to parents, who will be making the purchases, by playing the songs to a more child-friendly tune. The advertisements create a sense of nostalgia for parents, encouraging them to reminisce on his or her own school days.

    Song: Depeche Mode-I just can’t get enough (1981)

    This connection created through the media from seller to consumer could potentially make this brand stand out from others and illustrates Wilbur Schramm’s Source-Message-Channel-Receiver Communication Model. Target serves as the source by sending out the message, which is that they offer school supplies at a low cost. These advertisements and commercials illustrate the channel and, in this particular case, the receiver is the parents.

    Song: Kim Wilde-Kids in America (1981)

    In the “Kids in America” themed commercial, Target also highlights a philanthropic motive through a giving campaign entitled, “Buy One, Give One.” This effort attempts to persuade consumers to buy the Target brand supplies because for each supply purchased, another will be donated to a child in need. Utilitarianism describes an effort that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. By deciding to shop at Target, as opposed to other stores, consumers are doing more good for a greater amount of children depending on how many items he or she purchases.

    Target has made a great effort this back-to-school season to compete with other stores that have similar supplies at low costs. Do you think their tactics are effective in reaching out to publics?

     

    -Kaitlyn Russell, Anna Joy Zima, Malia Swift

  • Kmart Goes Back to School

    “What up y’all, it’s dem kids again” is the intro to the newest Kmart back to school commercial. The commercial, which is in the form of a music video, is being called racist by it’s viewers and is causing a stir among consumers.  The ad features a young hip hop group called “Da Rich Kidzz” who rap about the newest back to school trends.  Kmart’s attempt to appeal to the popularity of today’s hip hop culture has actually done the opposite of what their marketing strategy intended to do.

    The design of the commercial targeted a small demographic, causing their brand image to be misconstrued.  With the majority of the children in the video mimicking stereotypical rap video dancing and using incorrect grammar, it is easy to see how the message of the commercial could be misinterpreted.  Although it is safe to assume Kmart did not intentionally create the advertisement to bring negative light upon themselves, they are now faced with rebranding and reevaluating their marketing strategy.

    With all of the current back to school advertisements out at this time of year, it makes us wonder why Kmart chose to go this route with this campaign. With lyrics containing slang and grammatical errors such as “dem” and “can’t no one pass,” Kmart made the attempt to draw in the youth who listen to hip hop. Instead of making themselves stand out in a youthful way among the traditional back to school commercials, they further narrowed their consumer base.

    According to an article on Business Insider, Kmart’s brand has been suffering for the past six years.  After viewing the advertisement, would you be inclined to shop at Kmart for back to school items? Could this be Kmart’s last attempt to gain back a significant customer base? Seeing as how they have not made a public statement in response to the racial backlash, it will be interesting to see whether or not this campaign will pay off for Kmart.  To have a successful marketing campaign strategy, a business must always be able to recognize who their publics are.  They must also know that by alienating a certain demographic they have to expect that there will be positive and negative effects.

    When all is said and done, Kmart was successful in being memorable.  However, will their sales, in turn, reflect in a positive way?

    -Aaron Love, Kara Zimmerman, Rachel Clay, Rebecca Hobbs

  • Back-to-School- Back to Taxes

    As of this past August, there will be no more tax-free weekends for NC. That’s right, you read that correctly- North Carolina repealed the sales tax holiday in efforts to increase revenue for the state. What is known as the “tax-free weekend” started in 2002, and has become a prime time for families looking to save money to purchase school supplies, clothing, footwear, sports equipment and even some electronics with no sales tax. Retailers say that other than Black Friday, tax-free weekend is the busiest shopping time in NC. However, the repeal of the tax-free holiday was erased by the General Assembly as part of the state’s tax overhaul. (According to a WRAL news report, the state lost more than 13.5 million in tax revenue on the 2012 tax-free weekend.)

    North Carolinians have only celebrated tax-free weekend for eleven years, but in that short duration, marketing in North Carolina has evolved to persuade consumers to take advantage of the tax break. Companies use flyers, commercials, promotional emails, web advertisements, and even add additional discounts on top of low prices in efforts to beat out competitors by drawing in the inevitable crowds of customers to their stores. Below is an example of a promotional email, sent out by Kohl’s, which gave customers a reminder of the tax-free weekend, along with an extra incentive to bring them to the store.

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    Due to the slower summer season, businesses cling to these holidays to boost sales. That makes us wonder… how will the removal of tax-free weekend change future marketing for North Carolina businesses?

    Advertisers and marketers know that people in North Carolina will not be as easily inclined to spend large amounts of money in such a short period of time with no extra tax break, so what are they going to do? We can only guess what will happen next year, but we predict companies will amp their creativity in the back to school season. Brands like American Eagle and Teen Vogue are paving the way and are praised for their back-to-school campaigns, which include special events such as fashion shows and a huge social media presence.

    We know people are always going to have to buy back to school items, but now the main concern is are they going to buy as much without the incentive? Marketers are going to have to reinvent the way they communicate persuasive marketing to North Carolinians and deliver their new promotions in a way that our state will accept them. How do you think advertising tactics will change in NC now that there is no more tax-free shopping? Will you be spending as much money on back to school gear?

    – Caroline Robinson, Meghan Carey, Morgan Jones, Savannah Valade