Target Keeps it Simple with Their Black Friday Catalog Focusing on Price

Photo: Black Friday Archive

The day after Thanksgiving has marked the beginning of the holiday retail season since 1932.

On what is now known as Black Friday, retailers in the U.S. – and increasingly in other countries – open early, or even during the night, to offer shoppers significant price cuts on goods ahead of Christmas.

The advertisement produced by retailer Target in 2004 is inherently simple, and similar in design to ads produced by rivals.

On a red background – both festive and referential to Target’s branding – unrelated products from plush teddies to electronics or a Christmas tree are presented alongside their regular price, and the sale price in larger font.

The Target campaign comes in the form of a short booklet,  starting at 28 pages long in 2004 and growing to 40 pages in 2015.

Aside from differences in length and the range of products advertised, the campaign has remained relatively unchanged, employing the same branded color scheme and picture-price format from previous years.

The eye-catching headlines on each page similarly repeat the same slogans – “lowest prices ever” or “2 day sale,” etc.

This format has duly become the target of “trolls” who satirize both the presentation of the ad and the lack of cohesion between products contained therein.

Photo: Raining Hot Coupons

Naturally, the contents of the campaign are not particularly memorable, consisting of numerous pages of disconnected goods and their prices.

However, the lack of innovation or memorability has not impacted the effective repetition of the campaign each year.

The release of Black Friday catalogues has become an anticipated event in itself, with some retailers even threatening legal action against websites leaking such material early.

Blooming into something of a national event, customers are well aware when it is Black Friday — and similarly that every major retailer is offering significant sales for the event.

The campaign therefore only needs to convince customers that Target’s prices are lower than competitors’; the brochure format assists in this by presenting a large range of products with their prices to attract a broad customer base to the store.

Simple Not Cliched

Target does a fantastic job of blending branding with advertising during the holiday season.

Key seasonal products and promotions are tastefully presented as part of advertising campaigns that are cohesive, on brand, and avoid falling into the typical holiday cliches (playing to specific traditions or tropes, being too sappy, etc).

– Jordan Brannon, President, Coalition Technologies

Holiday Marketing Takeaway

Make sure your customers know that you can offer the best prices on Black Friday or similar shopping events.