When I was a student, I always looked forward to back-to-school season even though I was never ready for summer or school vacation to end and I was not eager for the homework that would soon come my way. What I did enjoy was perusing the aisles of my local office supply store to pick out the most colorful trapper keepers, notebooks, and pens. I relished trying on new clothes and breaking in a fresh pair of soccer cleats and pointe shoes alongside friends. With many districts starting with a hybrid or fully remote model and fall youth sports either modified, postponed, or cancelled, it’s sad that kids won’t have these same traditional experiences this year.
But, leave it to American brands to quickly pivot and change their strategy so they can market to buyers in a way that is engaging and fun, even during these strange times.
Back-to-school marketing has gone back to the basics, like the two-step. A recent report by Numerator shows one in three households will not bring their children in stores to shop for supplies. In fact, 41 percent of families plan to primarily shop online. As a result, broadcast advertising in this category declined 50 percent in the month of July compared to one year ago. A retail trends analysis by Sprout Social found there were more than 657,000 social media messages about the topic of going back to school in the first half of 2020. Companies are going grassroots, engaging their target markets directly through the popular platforms Tik Tok and Instagram. They are encouraging families to let loose from their living rooms, instead of walking down aisles. Below are two examples.
Shipt’s #ShiptShuffle
Shipt, an app that connects members to fresh groceries and everyday essentials from retailers like Target and Office Depot in more than 260 cities nationwide, partnered with America’s favorite big sister, “Full House” and “Fuller House” star, former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant, and mom of three Candace Cameron Bure, to launch the #ShiptShuffle Challenge.
According to the campaign launch press release, the idea is to get families doing something fun and easy together as they navigate a different type of back-to-school experience. Families that recreate and post their “Shipt Shuffle” dance to Instagram or their Instagram Reels utilizing the hashtags #ShiptShuffle and #Sweepstakes and follow and tag @Shipt will be entered to win a one-year membership and free groceries. Five winners will be randomly selected and direct messaged by Sept. 11 to receive the $5,000 Shipt credit to their account, making something as mundane as online shopping for supplies collaborative, creative and playful.
Hollister’s #MoreHappyDenimDance
Hollister’s new “Jeans Lab” campaign has a similar customer-generated content call-to-action and features Tik Tok co-creators Charli and Dixie D’Amico and Noah Pugliano and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Bill opens the video alerting the group that the Jeans Lab is now open for testing. The influencers then test the fabric, flexibility, and durability of the jeans by dancing.
Fans and followers are challenged to record their own dance video that copies Charli’s choreographed routine and post it leveraging the hashtags #MoreHappyDenimDance and #HCoContest. By doing so, they will be entered to win a virtual one-on-one meet-and-greet with the D’Amerlio sisters, who designed their own custom jean fit, giving them a “stamp of approval” that’s displayed in-store and online for their collective 100+ million followers to see. The results speak for themselves. Within six days of the July 16 launch, the campaign racked up 2.5 billion views.
While students may not be getting the same shopping experience I had, it’s smart marketing to engage with kids where they spend their time. Making today’s confusing back to school season fun is good for families, and great for sales. I just hope the challengers stretch first!
