Gen-Z, Millennial Opps: Carhartt launches new campaign, almost doubles FY 2022 digital spend YTD (Score 55)

Sales Lead: Premium work apparel company Carhartt recently launched a new campaign that honors its 135-year history.

• Made in-house, "History in the Making" honors the company's 135-year history while connecting that history to looking toward the future.
• It rolled out across TV, digital, connected TV (CTV), streaming TV, and social media channels.
• Per CBO Susan Hennike, the goal was to encourage viewers to make their own history every day.
  • The creative was made to deepen existing user engagement and also reach new audiences.
• This initiative also involves a social media video series, "Putting on the Gloves," which highlights some of Carhartt's most popular products.
• The company will likely:
  • ​​​​​​​Roll out additional work
  • Keep shifting (digitizing) strategy
  • Continue increasing digital spend
  • Conduct agency reviews under a relatively new CBO (more below)
• Target demographic: 
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Gen-Z and millennials with a female skew
    • ​​​​​​​Carhartt historically targets men but is ramping up efforts to reach women with feminist stances.

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: So far this year, Carhartt has spent approximately $1.3k on national TV commercials, a mere fraction of the approximately $88.7k spent within the same 2022 timeframe.  
  • Last year: In 2022, the company spent around $81.8k toward national TV commercials after having spent less than a quarter of this, around $18.4k, in 2021.
  • 2023 ad programming: Carhartt's 2023 commercials have targeted Gen0X watching shows such as Storm Center, Chicago PD, Jarrett Edwards Outdoors, Deep Water Salvate, and Impossible to Forget.
• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: The company has allocated roughly $4.2m toward digital ads YTD, 62% more than the roughly $2.6m allocated in all of 2022.
  • YTD data: Since the beginning of 2023, Carhartt has earned ~335.5m digital impressions via YouTube (88%), Instagram (7%), Facebook (4%), and desktop display (1%) ads.
  • Last year: The company's estimated full-year 2022 spend increased 8% to $2.6m from that of $2.4m in 2021.
• Additional channel insights  
  • Carhartt utilizes Google Ads along with local broadcast, digital, OOH, Facebook, TikTok, and online video (primarily via Youtube.com and Youtube IOS) ads.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The company sponsors podcasts such as Stories from NPR, kPod, Legion of Skanks Podcast, The Rizzuto Show, and The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya.
  • Carhartt also works with various influencers.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: We still haven't heard of any roster shifts since CBO Hennike's August 2022 appointment, so get in touch sooner rather than later to remain top-of-mind if you haven't yet done so.
• Current agency roster: ​​​​​​​
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Zeno Group: PR AOR
  • GTB: Creative agency partner

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast insights by Podchaser.