Female Millennial, Gen-X Opps: T.J. Maxx promotes female empowerment in first work from new creative AOR (Score 37)

T.J. Maxx (TJM) recently debuted its first work from MullenLowe Boston, which became parent company TJX's creative AOR last year. Dubbed "You To the Maxx," the new campaign reveals a bold new look for the retailer, and it draws on female empowerment to appeal to women of all sizes and ages. The messaging of empowerment is a notable shift from TJM's former product- and style-focused strategy. Sellers able to offer high-ROI strategies among women should get in touch soon to secure last-minute ad dollars.

Since the campaign launched earlier in March, iSpot reports approximately $5.7m has gone toward it; by this point last year, the brand hadn't yet invested in this channel. TJM ended up spending approximately $8.1m on this channel last year, up 56% from the approximately $5.2m it spent in 2020. The brand's 2022 commercials have targeted Gen-X women watching shows such as Good Morning America, The Masked Singer, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Grey's Anatomy and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Per Pathmatics, TJM has allocated roughly $2.8m toward digital ads YTD, less than half of the roughly $7.2m it spent within the same 2021 timeframe. In 2021, the brand's estimated full-year spend more than doubled to $19.3m from that of $7.1m in 2020. Since the beginning of the year, TJM has earned around 333.3m digital impressions via Instagram (48%), Facebook (47%), desktop video (4%) and desktop display (1%) ads.

Additionally, Magellan shows the brand has aired 11 podcast ads within the past 12 months.

In a recent earnings call, execs touted parent company TJX's market as instrumental in higher sales; this leads me to believe spend will not slow down anytime soon. According to Kantar data, TJM (the brand) also invests in radio, OOH and local broadcast. It holds planning conversations in Q2 and buying conversations in Q1. The fact that TJM is starting to spend more on TV ads and less on digital ads leads me to believe its female target demographic currently consists mostly of millennials and Gen-X rather than Gen-Z. As I briefly mentioned, sellers should get in touch soon if able to offer relevant ad space.

Agency & martech readers - We could still see additional agency reviews following the recent creative one, so continue to keep TJM and TJX on your radar. Along with MullenLowe, TJM works with PR AOR Edelman and media buying and planning AOR Mindshare.