KMart Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells indeed, better watch the spelling!  We talked about this new ad from KMart last night in my grad class at NYU.  I actually split the class into four groups and each group analyzed different "holiday" marketing ... KMart, Shinola, Volvo, and Toys 'R Us ... advertising or video assets that had just recently debuted and are getting a lot of buzz.

Of the four we looked at, this was by far the hardest to decipher from a marketing perspective ... but is on fire in social media!

We came to the conclusion that KMart is trying to differentiate via "attitude" and "personality," rather than through price or trendiness, as its competitors do.

This spot for Joe Boxer at KMart follows a string of viral videos turned main stream marketing for the brand over the course of the year, starting out with "I Shipped My Pants."  A chuckle at the time when we perhaps needed it most, right in the dead of winter.

This video is drawing a lot of criticism, I must add, for being inappropriate and in bad taste.  That I don't see, neither did any of my students.  Just some good holiday fun, and a reminder of where we can all go buy a little part of it.

Me?  I applaud the creativity.  It's not saying much strategically, and it's not very compelling on why I should shop there.  But it is telling me to have a little fun along the way, and when the holidays get hectic I don't mind that message at all.

What's your experience?  Jim.

PS - This week I'm covering all four of the featured brands we discussed in my class ... tomorrow will be Toys 'R Us to finish up the round up.