the holidays are coming

I am an employee at Best Buy and we are getting started for Christmas we have been getting more computers and movies and ipods. The Christmas season is around the corner, for retailers the Christmas season makes up 70% of their fiscal budget. Retailers thrive to make sure that all the customers get what they need, what they do not know that they need and create relationships during the process to improve their business and increase their growth. During most Christmas seasons there is a great deal and of change that occurs and the retailer' job is to adapt and grow with that change. Working for Best Buy has made me more comfortable with change and adapting to it. We plan to make the best out of the Christmas season .

The Retail Christmas Message

By David Martin, Marc Ryan for AdRelevance, a Jupiter Media Metrix Company

The holiday rush is officially on, and the stakes are high for Internet retailers. While a sonic boom of retail advertising signals the Christmas rush, the marketing noise companies make may determine who wins and who loses in the holiday revenue game. With that in mind, it may seem surprising that online retailers have placed a huge emphasis on brand awareness campaigns to lead off the holiday season. Instead of going for the early quick sell with direct marketing ads; retailers are aiming at establishing recognition with consumers that will hopefully come when the need to purchase grows urgent.

Early in the shopping season, brand awareness strategies dominate the market, and few companies see the need to use incentive ads to set themselves apart. AdStrategy data from AdRelevance suggests that in a retail market that is getting more competitive as Christmas approaches, we may see more direct marketing ads intended to win over the last-minute shopper. Over the past five weeks the gap between brand awareness ads and direct marketing ads has drawn closer, and that gap may get tighter as the gift-buying frenzy nears the eleventh hour.

Plenty of time remains in the holiday shopping season, however, and online advertising promotions reflect this with passive branding campaigns. AdStrategy data shows that brand awareness is the dominating tactic for early holiday season retail advertisements, working to establish brand saliency and build long-term recognition.

Disneystore.com and Spencer Gifts currently place a high priority on awareness campaigns, as demonstrated in the ads above. Forty-three percent of Disney banners use brand awareness, while Spencer Gifts utilizes the strategy on 72 percent of its ads. The two companies are clearly marketing toward the Christmas buyer without imposing an undue sense of immediacy early in the shopping season. As last-minute web shoppers scramble for gifts, companies like these may employ more urgent campaigns using direct marketing strategies.

Discount retailers Half.com and Bestbuy.com, are good examples of direct marketing advertisers who use offers or incentives to pique immediate consumer interest. Half.com actually uses more direct marketing ads, at 57 percent of their total, than brand awareness. Their ads are intended to encourage consumers to visit their site and make a purchase. The total number of direct marketing ads such as these has increased steadily since the beginning of the summer, and in recent weeks that number has grown at an even faster rate.

So far, the top four retail advertisers are steering clear of direct marketing strategies. Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Ebay and Red Envelope Gifts are fueling a huge Christmas surge with awareness-based campaigns, helping to increase total retail ad spending by 35 percent over the last five weeks. Less than a third of retail advertising, however, uses direct marketing tactics.

AdStrategy Breakdown
for Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, Ebay, and Red Envelope
10/02 through 11/05

In a cutthroat environment where a Christmas slump may mean extinction, it would be surprising to see a lack of heavy price and incentive competition as the big day nears. When consumers start scrambling for last-minute gifts, ads touting free overnight shipping and large discounts will draw the crowds. A convergence between brand awareness and direct marketing ads could be very likely as retailers push to increase site traffic and sales as shoppers find time running out. In the end, the savvy marketers who adopt strategies that win consumer interest will find a large present of revenue under the tree, those who don't may be faced with a lump of coal.

Shelby