Campaign Imminent: Michaels taps creative AOR (Score 76)
Sales Lead: Michaels Stores concluded a review with the appointment of creative AOR OKRP.
- The agency will focus on refreshing Michaels's brand and marketing, which includes design, advertising, and visual identity.
- OKRP will also support the company's strategic marketing in order to target customers beyond traditional crafters.
- New work will reportedly launch in August 2023.
- We predicted that an agency review would fall sometime from November 2022-April 2023 in when Michaels parted ways with its former CMO, Ronald Stoupa.
- Since then (about a year ago), it has appointed a new CMO, Amanda Rassi.
- The company will likely:
- Implement strategy shifts
- Return to higher spend, especially once it launches a new campaign
- Conduct additional agency reviews
- Target demographic:
- Millennials with a strong female skew
Additional spending insights:
- Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
- YTD spend: So far this year, Michaels has allocated roughly $1m toward national TV commercials, only half of the roughly $2m allocated within the same 2022 timeframe.
- Last year: The retailer allocated around $10.6m toward this channel in 2022 after having allocated 23% less, around $8.2m, in 2021.
- 2023 ad programming: Michaels's 2023 commercials have targeted Gen-X watching shows such as Gunsmoke, Castle, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Two and a Half Men, and The First 48.
- Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
- YTD spend: YTD, the company has spent approximately $11.8m on digital ads, 15% less than the approximately $13.8m spent by this point last year.
- YTD data: Since the beginning of 2023, Michaels has earned about 1.2b digital impressions via YouTube (51%), Facebook (32%), Instagram (16%), and desktop display (1%) ads.
- Last year: The company's estimated full-year 2022 spend, $46.5m, reached 9% less than that of $50.9m in 2021.
- Additional channel insights
- The company utilizes OOH, local broadcast, digital, Google Ads, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and online video (primarily via Youtube.com) ads.
- It works with various influencers as well.
- Michaels sponsors podcasts such as Office Ladies.
- The retailer also invests in short-form DRTV.
- Michaels has very highly concentrated network TV coverage and will not likely launch a new campaign soon.
Additional agency insights:
- Opportunity: Michaels may seek additional new agency partners following this hire, so reach out soon to offer media, PR, digital analytics, experiential, multicultural, and/or influencer services.
- Current agency roster:
- OKRP: Creative AOR (May 2023)
- In-House: Media
Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast insights by Podchaser; DRTV insights by Media Analytics.
