What Do You Think of Kmart's New Holiday Commercial?
Kmart will definitely grab your attention with its new holiday ad, “Show Your Joe.” But experts remain divided on the effectiveness of the ad. Can it boost Kmart’s appeal among millennial and middle-aged women?Kmart has certainly made it clear that they want to push the envelope with their advertisements. This commercial was the latest in a line of tongue-in-cheek ads like “Big Gas Saving” and “Ship My Pants” designed to elicit an extreme response from viewers. All of the ads were created by DraftFCB, and they certainly seem to have a winning recipe here.“Show Your Joe” depicts six men in tuxedo tops and holiday-themed boxer shorts. They perform a rendition of “Jingle Bells” by gyrating their hips to ring out this classic Christmas tune. We’ll assume you can guess what is supposed to be creating the tone for these jingle “bells”...Kmart’s commercial has certainly captured people’s attention online:
Nearly 16 million views on YouTube (59,555 likes and 3,495 dislikes)
7,830 likes on Facebook and 5,034 shares
Kmart’s “Show Your Joe” Grabs Viewer’s Attention
Matti Leshem, CEO of the LA-based firm Protagonist, thinks that Kmart did it right with these advertisements. "This is a ballsy move. Pun intended," exclaimed Leshem. "And they've drawn attention to themselves in a world where there's 9,000 channels and where no one can get heard for more than a second."Research conducted by ad-tracking firm Ace Metrix has shown that Kmart’s holiday commercial scored way above average for a retail. Scores were highest for “attention” but lowest for “relevance”. Most respondents described the commercial as "really clever, highly creative, really funny and are very much understanding the creative approach they are taking," said Jonathan Symonds, executive marketing VP at Ace Metrix.This is exactly what Kmart and DraftFCB were after when they came up with this playful idea. They needed an attention-grabbing campaign that would also lift Kmart’s image in a fun and lighthearted way. As we have seen with Corvette's latest ad - this can be really effective.
What About Brand Attribution?
This is not the sentiment shared by everyone in the advertising industry. When compared to ads in the Advertising Benchmark Index, “Show Your Joe” performed well below average. Experts argue that the ad is lacking when it comes to brand attribution as opposed to the “Ship My Pants” and “Big Gas Savings” ads.Check out "Ship My Pants" here:Further polling shows just what kind of polarizing effect this ad has had on viewers:
Scored highest in the “dislike” category
Scored second highest in the “like-ability” category
It’s difficult to say with any certainty how much “Show Your Joe” will drive sales for Kmart during this holiday season. The market results won’t be available until early next year. Still, we feel that the social interaction and level of discussion surrounding this advertisement are signs of a winning marketing formula.