‘Tis the Season to be Marketing
By George Anderson
The prospect that consumers may be willing to spend more this holiday season has retailers getting into their marketing budgets earlier and in a bigger way this year than in
the past.
Mark DiMassimo, founder of DiMassimo Brand Advertising, told Reuters many advertisers feel, “This is the year for being aggressive.”
“There’s money out there and now people can taste it,” he said. “The corporate focus has begun to shift from financial shenanigans … to actually selling things to people.”
Although Target has been cautious about its outlook for the holidays, that did not prevent it from going out to consumers with a 48-page supplement offering discounts on toys,
small appliances and consumer electronics.
Moderator’s Comment: Which retailers do you expect to do best this holiday season and why? Is there one retailer you think will surprise the industry
with its strong performance?
We know that consumers have been conditioned over the past few years to wait until later in the holiday season to begin making their purchases. We have
to admit being a bit surprised while out and about this weekend to note increased traffic at local Targets, Kohl’s and smaller shops.
Consumers weren’t just window shopping either. Yesterday, we saw a queue of shoppers in front of the consumer electronics display at Target with the supplement
in hand.
The food stores were predictably packed with shoppers as consumers loaded up on goodies for Thanksgiving Day. [George
Anderson – Moderator]