Branded back-to-school bet

Take a look at Saatchi's new niche marketing site for JCP - all about back-to-school.

According to their release, it's part of a huge investment in the high school demo. The site itself has a reality program featuring designers Chip and Pepper Foster, a contest to present at the Teen Choice Awards, and a couple of great style guide tools including this very fun mix-and-match your stereotype approach:

Offline, there's a seeding strategy for the site (mostly push through movie theater ads), a couple of well-done TV spots and - de rigeur with this audience - a mobile strategy.

All-and-all, a pretty tight campaign. But, I'm left with one objection: The content and the voice don't seem to match. The brand is in your face, but the content is really playful. There's a credibility gap - will a cynical teen audience really engage with this site and tools when there's so little that's organic in the strategy (from the seeding all the way through to the site content).

I think I'm looking for a consumer voice on the site ... something that opens up the brand. The difference between shaveeverywhere.com and Brawny Academy.

Thoughts on the campaign?

Comments

[Sonya]

How are they driving kids towards the site? Why would a high schooler just choose to check out JCP.com?

[Tim Nolan]

I have worked on this "type" of campaign many times over the last few years. Episodic content loosely geared towards a target demo. When building this site in particular, the focus was alway on the C7P angle. The consumer voice is translated through the Class of 08 section, and through the original "styles" that the students adhere to prior to being "flipped".

Overall, I think it is a decent step forward for Saatchi & JCP.

[CoryS]

JCPenny's efforts to continue to shift the brand persona is laudable to be sure. I have to agree that a push into the teen/pre-teen segments is a tough move, even with the solid surface creative. If WalMart and Target are the major competitors for this sector, then JCP likely is a bit edgier if they can get the kids into the stores. I'd like to see how the in-store experience matches this new edgy persona as well.

Yep, feels a little bit 1.0 in a 2.0 world.

[Susan Gunelius]

It seems like so many companies are implementing ad campaigns like JCPenney's. I'd love to see some statistics telling how well they really work. I have to agree that just putting the site out there isn't enough. I'd like to see these types of marketing efforts be more distinctive. I have to agree that something that would add the consumer voice would make a big difference and certainly make the content more appealing and compelling.

[Freddie L. Sirmans, Sr.]

Just browsing the internet, very interesting blog.