Target Wonderland
General Retail Merchandising Industry
Target
2019
New York City, NY, USA
Opportunity
Target conducted research and found “the average person has an extra 20 hours of ‘to-dos’ each week during the holidays.”1 Target wanted to help people relieve their stress and had the opportunity to improve brand sentiment and create a buzz-worthy event.
Solution
In order to bring joy to people’s lives, a free, 11 day, 16,000 square foot playground was made. This activation had 19 interactive experiences where families could play and experience the magic of the holidays. Guests could scan toys to add them to their cart allowing for easy, hassle-free shopping as an underlying tone. Target’s Holiday Cheer Express went above trying to foster a fun holiday season for their consumers as Target donated $40 to Toys for Tots with each holiday wish list that was sent through a pneumatic tube.
Activation Breakdown
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19 interactive holiday-inspired experiences were found at this playground.
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16 Partnerships with companies like
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A giant snow globe visitors could step into
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A partnership with Lego to make their dog.
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A partnership with Star Wars to make a Star Wars tunnel and lightsabers.
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A partnership with M&M to create a giant gingerbread house.
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A soft launch with collaboration from famous actresses and micro-influencers.
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A collaboration with Toys for Tots.
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A VR based snowball fight.
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Toys to be scanned and added to the shopper's Target cart.
Results
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17,000 guests who spent an average of 1.5 hours.
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$1 million for Toys for Tots.
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1,500 media mentions with 139 media impressions.
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3.2 million impressions and 18,500 engagement from earned media.
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37 earned media placements that earned 318 million impressions.
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Boosted the company's net sentiment by 100%.
Takeaway
This activation utilized collaborations in the best way. By bringing in other big names, Target could create the best of the best in terms of scale, quality, and what people wanted to see. Target wanted to help bring joy into their customer’s lives and they utilized charity work which incentivized their guests to share their wish list (they didn’t even have to buy). Target made this event free and accessible, about fun and play, and gave back to their community.
1 Gelbach, C. (2020 September 14). Reggie Case Study: “Target Wonderland” Path to Purchase IQ. https://pathtopurchaseiq.com/reggie-case-study-target-wonderland
In Action
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