By providing value to their audience, Target was able to be more than just a logo on the sidelines.
Target called upon our creative strategy and activation expertise looking for a better way to engage collegiate millennials during football season. Their goal was to position the Target brand as a top-of-mind one-stop shop among all college students.
We knew the idea had to be simple and authentic in order to appeal. And as a bottom line, the experience had to be memorable.
College students tailgate college football games for a good time and camaraderie, but it is almost impossible to coordinate your group of friends to bring every single item needed to make a tailgate as memorable as possible.
With that, Target Tailgate was born. With the top five football tailgate colleges in the country on our map, we set out to deliver an unexpected tailgate experience full of food and yard games. Without warning, brand ambassadors would hit up tailgate operations, identify a need, then supply it with a suite of Target brand products such as dip for tailgater’s chips, ketchup for their grill, a bean bag toss for their friends and so much more.
By going into the belly of the beast itself, Target was able to make meaningful, 1:1, connections with college football fans through giveaways and Target branded goodies. This fueled user generated content and embossed Target’s brand into some of college’s most sacred traditions.
Using custom three-wheel bikes filled to the brim with food and games, our Target team divided and conquered each tour stop. But in order to effectively up-level any millennial’s tailgate, we knew we had to do more than remedy their forgotten goods—we had to leave lasting impressions.
Through each tour stop, we’d distribute several GoPro cameras and JBL speaker systems to lucky tailgaters, instantly elevating their game day celebration. Along with custom brand materials and Target apparel, we left an impression that went beyond each activation site. Students took to digital, voicing their thanks and praise.
70,000+ Facebook impressions, 475 Cartwheel accounts verified and #TargetTailgate callouts on every social platform. Our producers, project managers and creative team’s work sparked over 16,000 fan interactions. And with over 6,000 tailgate-enhancing Target products given away, we left each game day ritual happier than we found it.
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