I don't recall seeing a TG/BF ad that small. It looks like we have given up, at least on Kmart anyway.
I think the ads from "smaller" sale days, like the 4th, Memorial Day, etc., were bigger than this.
People are going to look at this and say to themselves, "might as well go to Walmart or Target!".
https://www.theblackfriday.com/kmart-blackfriday.shtml?page=1
Because of the marketing changes, the sales are down 30-40%. But hey, as long as they are saving 'their' marketing budget, right? Did anyone consider the overall effect to the company as a whole instead of just their budget? What is the bottom line in the end (positive or negative margin)? It is a self-fulfilling downward spiral, proven over and over in Kmart and now Sears. Sales are bad enough without some fool pulling all print ad support. The redirection of effort is not working.
OK guys. Let me explain a few things.
The ad agency receives a set fee each year plus a percentage of the value of advertising that is placed.
With regards to print, the changeover to online only weekly ads for all Kmart markets and some Sears markets was done as cost savings. Marketing money was reallocated to other efforts, like the SYW postcards, more intense efforts at member winback, and the blowout sales, which are more successful than the weekly sale changes we had forever.
The Thanksgiving/Black Friday print ad this year is combined into one piece to save distribution and print costs. Did you know we were previously producing, between both banners, up to six separate ad distributions on Thanksgiving week?!! That is designing, printing, and getting delivered through newspapers, stores, alternate distribution and mail SIX pieces in one week. But that is the way we did it forever.
The Kmart side is roughly 50 pages for Thanksgiving/Black Friday. The few pages released on weekly ad are a preview.
Kmart ad yawn. No cheap tvs, gaming systems, games,cellphones etc. I'm gonna lay down on kmarts new electronics section that day and take a nap in the mattress section. Shouldn't be too many people around to bug me on that day.
@mpk: The older customers sure do, the Hispanic ones maybe not. And anyone with Internet access and an interest in BF deals checks out all the ads online in advance.
Does the average Sears/KMart customer even read a newspaper?
The advertising company would not extend the cr dit required for larger ads so this is all the company could afford. Oh well sign of the times...
"Sears is the full 49 pages in all its glory."
Pfft, "Glory" yeah I would not describe anything with Sears and glory in the same sentence ok?
The KMart ad is a preview only.
Sears is the full 49 pages in all its glory.
Last year Samsung tablets were an incredible deal, unfortunately, we don't seem to sell those anymore.
Of course it's small. We pretty much have nothing worth getting. It's just run of the mill crap. That and they're doing that holiday blowout sale on all the stuff in the store, which will lead to a store closure soon after.