Whether or not you have been sucked into the soap-like drama, Revenge, on ABC, an interesting new ad campaign and partnership debuted last night. Target and Neiman Marcus partnered together and purchased all of the advertising for the show. During the ad slots throughout the show, Target and Neiman Marcus featured actors from the show in a "story within the show story". If you were just tuning in, you might have been confused at times determining whether you were watching the show or these mini-story advertisements. Although unclear at times how two very different retailers like Target and Neiman Marcus could partner and what it would consist of, the big reveal here is its joint Holiday Collection debut. The collection features a variety of gifts that will be available in both stores beginning December 1st.
The logic between buying an entire show's advertising is to find a way to really reach consumers through advertising. ABC even jumped through hoops to ensure Target and Neiman Marcus that their ad segments would be tied into their digital viewing alliances with Hulu and through their own website. From a brand perspective, I think it is a fascinating move. Target obviously finds value in aligning its brand with a high-end retailer like Neiman Marcus to reinforce a big piece of its value prop-give its consumers the impression that they really are getting the best fashion at an unbeatable price. The brand logic for Neiman Marcus is a bit more complex and risky in my opinion. I support the reason for this partnership for the fact that it may likely draw in aspirational consumers who may feel extremely excited about being able to purchase something at Neiman that they can afford. This can eventually make Neiman the quintessential aspirational store for those individuals who have a great experience. On the other hand, I think you can argue that by aligning the brand with a low price retailer like Target and by selling lower priced items as a result of this partnership, you could risk diluting your brand.
Either way, I think such advertising moves may be something to look for in the future.
Here is a link to a teaser, that gives you an idea of what the segments were like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qolNjaACV9E
I think that you are right, that we are moving towards one advertiser bringing us a show. I wonder if they get a better financial deal that way? Do the broadcasters benefit? Why isn't there is Target tv channel? I think that the networks don't want to be owned by ad agencies, so it is a delicate balance. Regarding Target/Neiman, yes upscale people do downscale things, but I don't think I've ever seen mass advertising for Neiman, and I wonder yes if this dilutes the brand.
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