The instrumental to Missy Elliott’s “Cross That Dutch” is blaring by your audio system whereas Lindsay Lohan is in your display screen strolling by the halls of North Shore Excessive College. Did you simply transport again to the early 2000s?
No, chances are high you had been simply served Walmart’s newest Black Friday advert.
The film Imply Ladies has been a popular culture traditional since its launch in 2004. Almost 20 years later, Walmart is capitalizing on the movie’s enduring reputation with a Imply Ladies-themed Black Friday marketing campaign.
Walmart’s collection of advertisements options 5 of the movie’s unique forged members reprising their roles and even features a cameo from Missy Elliott herself. As a substitute of the infamous “burn e book” featured within the unique film, the Walmart advertisements are centered round a “deal e book” highlighting reductions the retailer is providing this vacation season.
In the present day we’re breaking down why this marketing campaign is sensible advertising by Walmart.
Wish to promote to millennials? Reference Imply Ladies
Imply Ladies is a generation-defining movie for millennials. This era was the goal demographic for the movie when it was initially launched, and has since been a mainstay in millennial popular culture.
Because the movie is regarded positively by so many members of this era, it’s the proper backdrop for nostalgia advertising, which tends to be particularly efficient for millennials.
Nostalgia advertising leverages familiarity to evoke optimistic feelings from potential clients. Millennials got here of age throughout a significant technological revolution, giving them a singular disposition: an analog childhood and a tech-savvy younger maturity.
This leaves many millennials particularly vulnerable to nostalgia advertising if it reminds them of “easier occasions” earlier than we had been all on-line and Imply Ladies debuted throughout the tail finish of that point interval.
Promoting to millennials is very necessary for mega-retailers like Walmart throughout the vacation season. Millennials are actually the largest dwelling group of adults within the U.S. and are anticipated to be spending greater than different generations this vacation season. In different phrases, if retailers need to usher in vacation gross sales, they want millennials to purchase from them.
Capitalizing on the movie’s remake
The marketing campaign provides to the buzzing Imply Ladies universe. Walmart’s Black Friday advert dropped one week earlier than the primary trailer for the upcoming Imply Ladies remake was launched, which doubtless wasn’t a coincidence.
The 2024 movie is an on-screen rendition of the Imply Ladies musical, and although they aren’t formally linked it’s straightforward for viewers to affiliate the Walmart advert with the brand new movie’s promo. In reality, some X customers expressed favoritism for the Walmart advertisements over the trailer for the upcoming movie:
Whereas we gained’t know the complete impression of Walmart’s marketing campaign till Black Friday gross sales figures begin rolling in, thus far the marketing campaign has been a well-received dialog starter for the retailer’s buyer base.
