New Marketing Lessons for Back to School

August 11, 2003 - Tweens and teens are increasingly controlling the purchase decisions in the late summer selling season, with huge implications for how and when marketers position and pitch themselves.

A quick glance at street fashion confirms it: The 80s are back, complete with Converse hi-tops and studded belts. But, unlike the real 80s, it's not just the weird kids who dress like punks or goths. Thanks to shiny-haired mentors like Avril Lavigne, cool kids want to be punk too-or so says YTV's most recent Kid's Trend Report.

The first day of school has always been a fashion show. The styles change but the game is always the same: Each year, the popularity slate is wiped clean. The more enviable your style and gear, the closer you get to the inner sanctum.

The back-to-school season is many marketers' top season, but retail shopping patterns have changed dramatically over the past few years. And for major marketers, that fact is having a huge impact on both target audience and marketing tactics for the back-to-school season. It used to be moms who carefully researched deals, then bought each kid two or three good outfits and school supplies in late August. But now, for most kids, a new outfit is no longer a special thrill: For many students, shopping is a favourite social activity year round.

As a consequence, moms are no longer the prime targets for back-to-school marketing messages. The goal now is to talk directly to kids, even "tweens" (nine to 14-year-olds). For instance, Binney & Smith Canada (which makes Crayola) is targeting tweens directly for the first time this year. Similarly, Zellers, which already has an established foothold with moms, is going after the college crowd for the first time. And, in terms of tactics, everyone from Staples Business Depot to Kraft Canada is taking a trial stab at cellphone marketing in order to talk credibly to the back-to-school crowd.

While statistics exist for the back-to-school market's value, some analysts and even marketers wish they knew more. By most recent estimates, the teen market spends about $1.7 billion on back-to-school, or about $700 per teen, according to Youth Culture, the Toronto-based research firm. And while parents make 60% of the purchases, 70% of teens come along to beg and plead. And for the tween crowd, the total domestic spend on school clothes and supplies is just over $800 million. That's about $320 per kid, according to last year's YTV Tween Report, from the Toronto-based youth network.

Still, if you step back from the raw numbers, "it's surprising how little marketers really know about the back-to-school market," says Michele Erskine, a vice-president at Solutions Research Group, the Toronto-based market research firm. "Who's controlling the spending? When does the season start? If kids wait until they go back to school, how do they decide what they want?"

One thing marketers know for sure is that while they wish back-to-school spending would kick off in August or even earlier, the season is starting later each year.

"Over the past three years, key purchases are being made later and later," says Alison Savage, senior marketing manager for Zellers in Brampton, Ont. "Kids are waiting to see what others are wearing so the season is extending into late September."

As part of its efforts to reach beyond its stronghold on moms, this is the first year Zellers is going after the college crowd directly, promoting its Mossimo fashion line which it launched exclusively in Canada this past March. (In the U.S., the Target chain sells the brand.)

"The goal is to extend our reach into target groups with which we have no historic strength," says Savage. Aimed at the campus crowd, print ads are running from the beginning of August for six weeks, in key women's fashion magazines as well as transit shelters. Zellers is also hosting giveaways at bar events in mid-August.

Likewise, last year marked the first time Zellers' creative spoke directly to teens, with a Web site that featured an online change room where teens could interact with Zellers' Request brand, its most "trend right" clothes, says Savage.

This year, the goal is to reach teens again, but using television as a prime marketing medium. A 30-second ad, running through mid-September, was shot using body cams. Different groups of fashionable teens are shown riding hip modes of transportation, like Vespa scooters and the new longer skateboards, perfect for cruising. Then, the groups all meet up at a party. "The idea is, no matter what you're into, there's a (Zellers) brand for you," says Savage.

Additionally, Zellers is taking a swing at the teen text-messaging crowd, with a concurrent contest offering 10 $500 shopping sprees and tickets to an exclusive movie night. Teens can sign up online to register. Then, they receive two daily trivia questions on their phones. Each correct answer earns them a ballot to the contest.

Similarly, Staples Business Depot-which earns 15% of its revenue in the six-week period of August through mid-September-is targeting the teen market directly for the first time this year, also with a text-messaging campaign, says Doug Laphen, vice-president of marketing for Staples in Markham, Ont. Teen-tempting prizes include a grand prize trip to Los Angles to see any live event at the Staples Center, as well as requisite teen toys like cellphones and MP3 players. To enter, consumers have the choice of entering a code, "b2cool" on their phones or going to the Web site, b2cool.ca. In return, they get coupons pushed to their cellphones, for a $10 discount on any purchase over $50. The contest, which runs until Sept. 15, was developed by Toronto's N5R and is supported by a 30-second national radio spot, theatre slides and transit ads. (Staples paid top dollar for a list of personal e-mail addresses from Toronto's Uthink, a youth marketing agency. The list, comprised of interested youth who have agreed to have unsolicited messages sent their way, was used to create the e-invites for the campaign.)

Besides the focus on teens, another key strategy is to get people to shop early, says Laphen. To that end, a new initiative is a coupon book for consumers who shop in August and spend at least $50. They receive one coupon for each month until next January, good for $20 off each $100 they spend.

Still, Staples isn't ignoring the younger kids and mothers it typically targets. This year, efforts will include three Canadian-produced national television spots. One shows a sister and brother rushing to school and swapping knapsacks by mistake. The boy arrives at school with pink sunglasses, and his sister gets his stinky sneakers. "The goal is always to elicit a smile from the parents," says Laphen.

Yet another marketer targeting tweens for the first time in the back-to-school period is Binney & Smith Canada in Lindsay, Ont. In a cross-promotion with Kraft Canada, selected products including Kraft Dinner offer an in-pack password. Consumers go to the Web and play a game at a special microsite. In an effort to appeal to easily disappointed kids, every password wins a coupon for a Crayola prize.

Additionally, Binney & Smith is using television ads for back to school, for the first time in three years. "Back to school is a great time to get trial on new products," says Zadorsky. The tween-focused television ad promotes Crayola's new line of erasable markers. In it, a child is drawing a cartoon stick figure which he talks to. Then he erases the stick figure and turns it into a dog.

And like so many marketers, Binney & Smith is also coping with the challenge of a back-to-school season which happens later and later each year, says Zadorsky, "It's getting harder and harder to plan for back to school," says Zadorsky. "Before, moms would shop in early August. But now, everyone is trying to maximize their (vacation) time. They're delaying their holidays."

Still, while the challenge of pushing back the season remains a pressing one, it's clear that the most popular strategy is to speak to student shoppers with direct, relevant campaigns that will resonate throughout the school year. Says Erskine: "The biggest thing that's changing is that kids are actively buying throughout the year. (School-related) shopping is no longer an isolated yearly event."