SITUATION
As media consumption is becoming increasingly fragmented and consumer’s attention is being split across new media outlets, we know that we can no longer solely rely on commercial time alone to create impactful brand experiences. As consumers begin to expand their TV viewing habits across multiple screens, we also wanted to capitalize on the multi-platform viewing experience to best connect with consumers where they choose to watch their favorite programs.
SOLUTION
Haworth created an integration for Target with one of Bravo’s leading programs, Top Chef. Top Chef was the perfect fit, as it enabled us to highlight Target’s full store experience by filming the entire Top Chef challenge in a Target store where we could feature multiple areas of the store from food, to home decorating, to small appliances and cookware. We created a custom brand experience that enabled Top Chef fans to engage with our content across multiple screens as they chose to interact.
On TV: Beyond the program where over 65% of the episode took place with the Target store as the set and consumers couldn’t ‘skip’ Target’s message, Target created custom spots featuring Top Chef talent to increase the engagement during commercial pods.
On Bravo.com: Target was the exclusive advertiser during the integration episode online and tshe Top Chef season sponsor on Bravo’s video-on-demand platform. In an effort to integrate Target products and brands into Top Chef beyond the on-air integration we co-created and sponsored a contextually relevant web series called Top Recipes, giving viewers the opportunity to go online after each episode to watch a video outlining step by step how to create the winning recipe from that week with branded sharable/printable recipe cards and shopping lists featuring Target owned products. Top Recipes was also made available via video-on-demand, which was the first time Bravo has allowed non-television content to be put on their VOD platform.
On Target.com: Target created a landing page to feature the content in one centralized location: www.target.com/topchef. From here users could browse Target exclusive Top Chef products like season DVD sets and cookbooks. Users could also easily access the products (i.e. Black & Decker griddle) that were featured in the integration episode as well as the groceries and essentials that were used in the episode.
RESULT
Target successfully created a pop culture moment that consumers talked about during and after the show aired. We surrounded Top Chef viewers across multiple screens creating an experience where they could interact with both brands on TV, computer, and mobile screens.
The integration episode was the highest rated episode season to date among W18-49 with 1.7MM total viewers on TV and an additional 2MM viewers online; 800,000 views on Bravo.com and 1.2MM views via VOD. Top Recipes has received over 230,000 views on VOD and over 400,000 views online with over 10,000 people printing and sharing the shopping list. Target received nearly 1,000 tweets relating to Top Chef, 780 surrounding the integration episode itself.
Target + Holiday | Circular on the Radio
SITUATION
Knowing that value based promotions would play an increasingly vital role in driving holiday sales, Haworth set out to enhance Target’s greatest promotional asset, the weekly circular ad. However, during November and December, there is a surge of FSIs delivered in the newspaper and email blasts serving up offers driving increased clutter from all retailers.
Target approached the 2009 Holiday season with stronger sales goals than ever in the midst of the worst economic conditions in recent history. In order to meet these aggressive goals, it was key to drive traffic each and every week of the holiday season. In addition, increasing media spend from competitors heightened the pressure and challenges to drive business during the holiday season.
SOLUTION
Haworth leveraged consumer insights, tapping into the love consumers have for Target’s weekly circular traditionally delivered in the Sunday newspaper. Target guests see the circular as Sunday morning entertainment and turn to it for much more than what’s on sale, but they shop it for inspiration like they do their favorite magazines. And with declining distribution in newspaper, we needed to leverage this insight and bring the love of the circular into other media.
Haworth engaged radio DJs to create an endorsement radio campaign to increase/reinforce exposure of Target’s weekly circular during the very important and competitive retail month of December. The endorsement radio schedule was implemented during Monday morning shows on 70 stations across 24 major markets. DJs were not given scripts or detailed copy points. Instead, they were provided featured themes with products/deals from the weekly circular (e.g. holiday décor, toys, electronics). They were to discuss the theme as it relates to their own life experiences and tie back to related deals at Target that week. Given Target’s high standards for creative, we achieved the goal of a natural, in-program execution that would not come off as overly commercial by holding all stations and DJs to executional standards.
RESULT
This additive media element for the 2009 holiday campaign contributed to a higher than expected sales growth of 2.1% over 2008 for the holiday time period, driven by a 2.5% increase in store traffic. This helped make the 2009 holiday season a “win” for Target and boosted overall yearly sales into the black during a tough economy for major retailers. The campaign was also a win for Haworth – garnering Mediaweek’s 2010 Media Plan of the Year award for radio innovation.
Target | Presenting Sponsor of Discovery’s Life
SITUATION
As competitors are replicating our look and feel and others are simply cluttering the landscape, we are increasingly challenged to make sure Target's messages break through. Opportunities to partner with high profile, unique content are few and far between but engagement with Moms is critical to drive trips in-store. The challenge was to overcome this increasingly competitive marketplace and find a place where our client’s messages could be showcased in a highly engaging environment in order to reinforce consumer appreciation for Target, as well as increase shopping intent.
SOLUTION
Haworth negotiated presenting sponsorship of Discovery Network’s successor to Planet Earth, Life, inclusive of retail exclusivity on-air, online, VOD and through event sponsorship. On-air elements included multiple integrated creative executions allowing for branding extensions throughout the program. On-air sponsorship included tune-in ads, billboards, logo executions, vignettes and behind the scenes content specifically customized to Target’s key audience of Moms, providing a highly engaging experience. Also negotiated Target as the sole VOD sponsor on all cable systems nationwide.
RESULT
The launch of Life was a huge success! The first night of programming delivered a cumulative audience of 23.8MM viewers and provided +64% more W18-49 than we were originally guaranteed. In addition, the Life audience surpassed Planet Earth by 15% and performed even better than American Idol for the week which is unprecedented for a cable network. The digital extension was also a significant traffic driver and buzz generator. There were nearly 600,000 site visitors in one day and the result was over 1MM video streams. In addition, Monday chatter following the Sunday premiere dominated Twitter and Facebook. And Google searches for “Discovery” and “Life” elevated throughout the weekend, peaking on the Monday following the premiere.
Target | Community Relations 5%
SITUATION
Since its first store opened, Target has given 5% of their pre-tax profits (today that’s $3 million a week) to support communities in which they do business. Haworth partnered with Target to tell this story nationally and locally. 97% of Target Guests know the brand, but only 15% are aware that Target gives back to the community through their support of the arts, education and social services. Haworth was tasked to raise awareness with Guests, reinforcing that when they shop at Target, they are giving back and making a meaningful difference in their own community.
SOLUTION
Haworth secured high-profile cross platform (TV, magazine, online) national media environments such as Oprah’s Big Give and CNN Impact Your World to raise awareness of Target’s community relations efforts. We sought out premium positioning and impact placements within broad reach magazine and online environments (i.e. Charitable giving content/edit) and successfully executed key market overlay; communicating on a local level the impact of 5%.
RESULT
The campaign was a huge success in driving awareness of Target’s giving initiatives. Haworth increased Target’s reputation score with Guests year-over-year; Target moved from #2 to #1 in philanthropy reputation tracker.
Target + Anna Sui | Gossip-Worthy
SITUATION
For Target’s latest limited-time-only design collaboration, we set out to sustain Target’s credibility for cutting-edge fashion by launching the newest line of clothing inspired by The CW’s hit show Gossip Girl designed by Anna Sui. Given the high profile design partnership, we needed to create a high impact media plan that delivered on the brand sensibilities of all parties involved; Target, Anna Sui and The CW’s Gossip Girl. And the ultimate success was to generate consumer buzz and anticipation to drive immediate sales.
SOLUTION
We partnered with entertainment conglomerates (Warner Bros. and The CW) to leverage core fans of Gossip Girl to drive fans in store to shop Anna Sui for Target as well as to The CW to watch the premiere of Season 3, where Target was an exclusive sponsor. Cross promotion in all Target media placements on The CW and also promoted Target’s new line in Gossip Girl Facebook updates, The CW Style Channel online and iPhone app, and Target promoted tune-in elements in their print and TV ads running in top fall fashion magazines. Street decals led curious fans from Anna Sui’s store in NYC to an underground pop-up store with Anna Sui’s exclusive Target line. We created a destination of aggregated tweets from Fashion Week VIP attendees to give fashion fans a one-stop peek into the front row of the fall fashion shows.
RESULT
With a multimedia experience we generated huge impact during a short window of time to drive reach and recognition of Target’s partnership with Anna Sui and Gossip Girl. With just under $2MM, we achieved over 60% reach to our Style Leaders target audience, and a 3.2x frequency during a three week promotional window. We delivered a highly targeted and customized approach with the CPMs of a mass media plan to maximize the plans effective reach.
Anna Sui for Target was the most successful limited-time-only campaign to date. Fashion fans raced to Target as week one sales were 36% above forecast with 31% of week one sales achieved on the first day product was available.
Target + Moms | Momversation Was Born
SITUATION
Target has created an outstanding brand image and reputation for leadership within its marketing efforts. Video assets have played an integral role in fostering the Target brand via outstanding television commercials placed in smart, relevant environments. Following their Guests’ behavior towards all things digital, Haworth advised Target to expand their video presence by extending into the online landscape. In keeping with their reputation for groundbreaking executions, Target sought to utilize the sight, sound and motion that have been a hallmark of their marketing strategy.
SOLUTION
The challenge had been presented: generate a credible video environment that will attract Moms and also foster Target’s message in such a way that the boundaries separating advertising and content fade; ultimately overshadowed by genuine experience. Necessity being the Mother of invention; Momversation was born.
Momversation: [mŏm-ver-sey-shuhn] – noun. A video series aggregating the top Mom Bloggers online today. Topically based in a personal, chronological log of thoughts and responses published on Momversation.com. Example: An uncommon iteration; a meaningful, custom, brand-based web execution. Related: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger
RESULT
Before paid distribution began, there were over 30,000 organic streams from the site in the first week and nearly 1,200 followers on Twitter. Heather Armstrong from Dooce.com said, “I’m proud to be a part of the site. The end product and the experience of participating far exceeded my expectations of what I thought Momversation was going to be. We mom bloggers get so many requests a day to deliver a brands product or service to our audience, so the fact that we have aggregated the audiences of these bloggers with one sponsor through one show has never been done before.”
Target + Holiday | Harnessing Brand Dialogue
SITUATION
Holiday is a critical time period for Target’s financial success, fiscal years are made and lost on this season alone and, in light of a daunting economic climate, Target was open to new approaches to drive sales. The goal was to speak to the primary Guest in environments that are compelling.
SOLUTION
A clear component of the equation was affecting and amplifying existing conversations, but a less obvious variable entered in the form of creating mechanisms to shift “offline” conversations online and vice versa.
Creating, affecting and expanding conversations pointed us toward social arenas online that offered genuine dialogue – environments that offered meaningful behavior characterized by extensive discourse. Ultimately the tactical interpretation presented itself in the form of a dedicated social shopping effort with Kaboodle that organically featured Target’s products as a social currency via pre-identified brand proponents, a social networking influencer program that employed internal opinion leaders within a structured setting employing existing motivations and social webs, as well as compatible activities and ecosystems. Finally, the blogosphere was tapped via Federated Media to utilize endemic Holiday conversations.
RESULT
The Kaboodle execution won the Web Marketing Association’s interactive advertising competition for best product integration campaign. Target’s dedicated environment was the most popular, receiving 35% of all site traffic during the activation period, visits to Target’s brand profile increased 6,125% from a significant base. 94,000 Target.com products were added to lists with 125,000+ exits to Target.com, more than any other domain.
The Café Mom program offered 7,000 posts within the dedicated Target Maniacs group, highlighted by an average consumption of 2-4 page views per visit suggesting quality engagement, and the addition of 2,300 members. The Holiday Party featured over 100,000 page views, over 12,000 posts, and a multitude of engagement measures that average more than 2x the predetermined objective.
The Federated blog environment showed organic traffic figures of 25% of the total sum of more than 28,000 visits.
Target + Holiday | Introducing Cartman
SITUATION
While most retailers ramped up their promotional antics for Black Friday by increasing their number of FSI’s or e-mail blasts; we chose not to compromise the Target brand integrity. Instead, Haworth celebrated the season with fun, friendly and unique media executions using Target’s new 2-Day icon, Cartman. Using Cartman, we got Guests in the shopping mindset by showing Cartman as he “trained” for the upcoming sale. With early morning door-busters not being a strategy for Target; urgency needed to be created by other means. Therefore, Haworth designed a full-fledge Cartman assault that would be unexpected and relevant, reminding people why they love Target.
SOLUTION
Leading up to the 2-Day Sale, Haworth surprised guests with unique Cartman placements. A Cartman “crawler” ran in the premiere of The Incredibles. Cartman ran across the screen five times – in a space typically occupied by the NBC peacock. Within newspaper, we executed consecutive horizontal color ads in key papers across the country. Each creative execution was tailored to the paper – Cartman was seen running in a blizzard in Minnesota and on the beach in LA. During the day, we delighted commuters with Cartman in the train tunnels using sub-media. At night, Cartman ran across the sides of buildings using projection media.
RESULT
During a down retail season, the Target 2-Day Sale was a bright spot. Sales increased double-digit percentages year-over-year (YOY) and online sales were even stronger, 2X the increase YOY vs. brick and mortar increases. The week of the 2-Day Sale saw the greatest % growth for basket size by week, YOY, and specific categories within the store over-delivered on expectations for sales during that week.
Target + the Environment | Helping Red Go Green
SITUATION
Green is going mass and Earth Day is the new Christmas. With more and more advertisers recognizing this trend and touting their efforts, advertisers need to be authentic, responsible and respectful in their Green marketing. Target fully acknowledged this by not acting like a traditional mass retailer, but by carefully crafting their introduction instead.
The challenge was to support the national roll-out of Target’s re-usable shopping bag, surprise and delight guests through strategic sampling, and gain credibility for sustainability efforts by differentiating Target and staying true to its brand DNA.
SOLUTION
The solution was to partner with influential brands for maximum eco-credibility. Support green environments that enhance messaging and reinforce positioning. We negotiated distribution of a custom designed re-usable shopping bag in Vanity Fair’s Green issue and sent these to Vanity Fair subscribers living in top green markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis.
Haworth also executed the TerraCycle retote program in Newsweek’s Environment Leadership issue by securing a cover “envelope” package to invite readers to mail in their Target plastic bags within the cover in exchange for a free re-usable tote coupon. TerraCycle retotes were also available for purchase in-store along with Target’s original re-usable shopping bags.
RESULT
Readers responded favorably with action to the two programs, not only to Target but to re-usable bags and the cause overall. 67% of Vanity Fair subscribers subsequently shopped with the re-usable shopping bag and over half of readers considered using reusable bags more often moving forward. Newsweek reader participation exceeded goal by 92% - resulting in 50,000 re-totes and counting.
Both marketing programs garnered local and national media coverage. Chatter was heard through various trade articles, eco-blogs and radio shows. “…in this month’s (VF) package, there was a really fun surprise! …I love it! Target is smart. Smart and Green! Not the color, the concept…” heywelikethis.blogspot.com
Target + Tony Bennett | Music to Our Ears
SITUATION
Music is the heartbeat of Target, and consumers immediately identify with the brand simply by hearing current soundtracks on its television spots. Entertainment is a critical driver of incremental sales in many categories of the store. Target challenged Haworth to enrich and elevate its position as a music trendsetter.
SOLUTION
Haworth leveraged joint relationships with key artist, Tony Bennett, to develop exclusive, cross-platform media events. The campaign featured a continuous mix of media among influencers to generate buzz/validation of partnership, and awareness among the masses. It showcased exclusive content available only at Target and Target.com and extend release date buzz and CD sales into key retail holiday season launch.
An NBC primetime special was developed to launch the key retail holiday season. Haworth capitalized on Tony Bennett’s special content as an in-store driver with exclusive “making of” DVD on sale prior to special airing. A star-studded premiere was held to initiate press coverage and a sponsorship of Tony Bennett’s 80th birthday party facilitated to give media influencers and consumers a “sneak peek”. We drove broad tune-in via weeklies: People, Time and Entertainment Weekly, and on-air promos and created immediate CD release-date traffic through both mass and niche media exposure.
RESULT
Target was the number one retailer of both Tony Bennett’s CD and DVD. The CD was the best-selling album in Tony Bennett’s career with three Grammy Award wins. The campaign delivered 800% sales lift on CD/DVDs and 400% sales lift on CDs during Thanksgiving week and drove $2.1 million in non-music sales. The campaign was also a win for Haworth, earning Mediaweek’s Media Plan of the Year award.
n] – noun. A video series aggregating the top Mom Bloggers online today. Topically based in a personal, chronological log of thoughts and responses published on Momversation.com. Example: An uncommon iteration; a meaningful, custom, brand-based web execution. Related: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger
