Dive Brief:
- On Wednesday, Kohl’s debuted a brand platform, dubbed “Where Families Come First,” which will highlight authentic family moments, the retailer said in a press release. The new platform, combined with Kohl’s focus on “unmatched value” and an improved product assortment, aim to position it as a destination for life’s milestones.
- Kohl’s new platform will release its first campaign, “When Life Gets Real, Start Here,” this fall. The campaign will use ordinary family situations to highlight the retailer’s products, and will attempt to portray “real moments” versus polished ones.
- The ad campaign will air on TV and be distributed across print media, video, and the company’s social and digital channels, the company said. Kohl’s is also teaming with its celebrity partners to curate the Kohl’s products they use in their everyday lives.
Dive Insight:
Through its upcoming campaign and new platform, Kohl’s aims to position itself as a destination for families. This year, the retailer has also tried to appeal to families by resurrecting tween apparel brand Limited Too, adding new assortments from Aéropostale and Madden Girl, and rolling out Babies R Us shop-in-shops at 200 stores.
“With our new platform, we have an opportunity to emotionally connect with new and existing customers, including families in all of their forms, and get them excited about the changes we’re making,” Christie Raymond, Kohl’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “Today’s family is inundated with images of perfection across media channels, so we wanted to flip the script and bring authenticity to our marketing and storytelling that shows real moments.”
Kohl’s is trying to attract more families to its physical stores following a series of sales declines. Last fall, Kohl’s CEO Tom Kingsbury said the company would turn its attention toward its physical stores, because its digital side “is really what’s bringing us down.” In fiscal year 2023, the retailer’s net sales dipped 3.4% year over year to $16.6 billion. Its losses continued into the first half of this year when the company reported a 5.3% drop in net sales year over year to $3.2 billion in Q1, with comps down 4.4%, and in Q2 a 4.2% decline in net sales to $3.5 billion, with comps falling 5.1%.
