I used to live in the world of advertising. Wait, maybe that’s not entirely true… I used to visit the world of advertising for long periods of time. I was always a native of Public Relations. What that means is that I managed advertising campaigns, hired art directors and photographers, and made the media buys based on long-term plans. And I paid attention to industry trends.
Yes, I trained for that. I studied advertising in college, though I never had an internship. It was an “extra” while I was earning my degree in Public Relations.
One of the downsides to working in advertising is that I lost the ability to enjoy advertising as entertainment. I found myself trying to decipher the audience and other information that influenced the ad. That’s something I never quite overcame.
The new Target ads for their groceries baffle me a little. Unconventional and completely different than any ads on television for a traditional grocery store or a superstore that also sells groceries. One or two mention price, but that’s not the selling point. Or at least it doesn’t seem like the selling point.
Though I think they’re very pretty. The visual branding is in line with Target’s usual stunning graphics, even if the white is a step away from the usual red. And it makes groceries look cool, one item at a time.
In case you haven’t seen them, here’s one to enjoy.
What do you think?
I shy away from criticizing advertising in blog posts and in comments because — well, I’ve produced some pretty worthless ads myself, one, and two, you never know what contraints the team was under. (I won’t hesitate to trash ads that are outright dishonest.)
That said, I’ve found the recent Target ads kind of off-putting. Some of the Christmas stuff was just irritating and off-putting. This one just has me puzzled. Score one for Walmart, their advertising always has a point to it.
Thanks for the comment. I do find this ad odd, baffling I think I called it. While I think it’s pretty, I’m sure it wouldn’t convince me to go buy my “bake sale” essentials there.
I agree. I was baffled by these ads as well. I also wonder, when did we start thinking of basic ‘groceries’ from a variety of manufacturers as a ‘collection’ that required a name, like The Every Day Collection? Unless they get their own logo or special aisle in the store, it is not a ‘collection’ in my book!