Target builds its holiday campaign around the red bag. RAYE provides the song

Target has put its red shopping bag at the centre of a brand campaign called Inside Out, which started in September at New York Fashion Week. The retailer says the campaign runs across television, streaming, digital, social and audio, and uses a track by the singer RAYE called Joy.

Inside Out started at New York Fashion Week

The rollout came in stages rather than as a single launch, with the fashion week presentation first. That order matters for a mass retailer. Starting at a fashion event borrows credibility that a television spot cannot buy, and the broader media weight then arrives with that association already made.

Scott Swartz argues design is more than what sits on the shelf

Scott Swartz, vice president of creative at Target, said great design has always been about more than the products on its shelves, in the original English. The line explains the strategy. Target is not launching a product range here. It is asking shoppers to treat the bag, the store and the look as the thing worth remembering, which is a harder sell than a price promotion.

Red Bag Stories and Bagspotting carry the social side

Two activations sit under the campaign. Red Bag Stories collects accounts from creators. Bagspotting is a street-style challenge running in Boston and Chicago. Target is also handing out reusable bags in five cities and on two college campuses. The tactics are cheap relative to the media buy, and they give the campaign something to photograph. Rivals have leaned on licensed characters instead, as Instacart did with Shrek and Scooby-Doo.

A New Museum show covers 60 years of Target design

The retailer is running an exhibition called Target by Design at the New Museum in New York, covering more than 60 years of its design work. That is the part of the campaign that cannot be repeated by a competitor next quarter, because it rests on an archive. The work sits under the marketing chief Mark Weinstein, who also took Roundel and Target Plus.

The question the fourth quarter will answer is narrow. Target has put its brand spend behind design rather than discounts going into the holidays, while shoppers are watching prices. The comparable sales figure it reports for the quarter is where that bet either shows up or does not.