Target Bets Its Turnaround on One Word: Design
A new national campaign called "Inside Out" puts Target's design pedigree front and center, with shopping bags that seem to empty themselves onto the sidewalk.
Target's new national campaign has a simple trick: watch a shopping bag appear to unpack itself in midair, spilling out everything a real customer actually bought, set to Raye's "Joy." It is called Target's "Inside Out," and it is running as 30- and 15-second spots across broadcast, streaming, radio, digital, and social through October 31.
The bigger idea is that Target wants to own the word "design" again, not just sell it. The campaign extends into "Red Bag Stories," a run of creator content built around real purchases, plus "Bagspotting" activations in Boston and Chicago in early October, where anyone caught holding a red bag can win a gift card. Reusable bags are also going out across five cities and two college campuses.
None of this is happening in a vacuum. Target just wrapped a two-day design presentation at New York Fashion Week's New Museum, rolled out style-forward apparel for its store associates, and hired former Hilton chief marketer Mark Weinstein as its new chief marketing and guest experience officer. Vice President Scott Swartz summed up the thesis: "Great design has always been about more than the products on our shelves." Translation: a turnaround needs a story, and Target has decided its story is the one it has been telling since 1962.
Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
