Target captures ‘That Target Feeling’ in new ad campaign

Dive Brief:

Bringing more pop-culture elements into its ad strategy, Target has debuted its “That Target Feeling” campaign, which draws inspiration from social media posts that share positive feelings customers experience when shopping at the retailer, the company announced Thursday.
The ad features a remix of the early 2000’s song “Everywhere,” by Michelle Branch. Some of the products used in its campaign will be available on the Target Finds page, which will be organized based on the people and places in the campaign, the release said.
On Sunday the company began began distributing the campaign across various digital, audio, social, streaming and other channels through July.

Dive Insight:

Target’s creative agency, Mythology, and Ibra Ake from London-based production company, Somesuch, partnered to create the campaign, which draws inspiration from user-generated content Target customers post on social media.

The company is mentioned over 50,000 a day in user-generated posts and has the largest big-box retailer following on TikTok, per the retailer.

“This campaign is inspired by real experiences shoppers have shared on social — those small, fun, and sometimes unexpected moments of discovery and delight in our aisles that make us Target,” Lisa Roath, chief marketing officer of Target, said in a statement. “We’re lifting that joy up in our marketing this year as we continue leaning into nostalgia and humor in new ways.”

The campaign includes nine ad spots spanning 60-, 15- and six-second versions that will run until the end of July across a variety of channels, including social (TikTok, Meta, Snapchat), video (YouTube, Vevo, Spotify, SiriusXM), out-of-home (gas station TV) and cinema. It will run on TV both during NBA and NHL finals as well as on Netflix, Paramount and Roku, with some TV ads including QR codes that link to a Target Finds page with products from the music video.

Beyond tapping into its social media following, the retailer recently capitalized on its pop culture cache. Last month, the company enlisted Kristen Wiig, former “Saturday Night Live” writer James Anderson, and director Tom Kuntz to develop an ad featuring Wiig as her Target Lady character from SNL. The ad promoted Target’s Circle Week event and appeared across TikTok, YouTube and other platforms.

Target has had to consider its advertising strategy amid a challenging economic and political climate. Ahead of last year’s holiday season, the retailer highlighted its product affordability in its “However You Holiday, Do It For Less” ads. This year, the company is only selling Pride-themed merchandise for adults in select stores and online following the backlash against last year’s LGBTQIA+ merchandising.