Better Late than Never

Well, as our class comes to a close and we're getting our final projects in and blog posts, I realized that I never wrote my second blog! I was almost certain that I did, and searched all files on my computer for it, as well as the PR Writing Blog because it was not on my own. I guess it was never written and got forgotten around midterms. Since that seems to be the case, I'm adding my second blog now so hopefully all you PR bloggers will get to read it!

Since Christmas is right around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to look at x-mas advertising. I've seen the same 2 Target Christmas commercials just about every day multiple times a day and it's really starting to annoy me. But this got me thinking, are their ads even working? A recent article on Ad Age says they're not. According to the article, a survey found that half of consumers say they're not inspired to shop at the retailer who's holiday TV commercial or online promotion they liked best. That's bad news for these huge retailers like Walmart and Target who are spending millions on their holiday advertising.

The article goes on to say that because of this, retailers should spend more money and time focusing their advertising efforts to consumers who are their target markets rather than the general public. They should also spend more money on in-store promotions through direct mail.

I find this interesting. It seems like a huge waste of money for no benefit at all. These big companies should take a hint from smaller ones. Maybe they should spend more time on Google AdWords, figuring out what consumers are really looking for. They should think before they spend.