November 8, 2013
The RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge: Kmart Vs. Walmart
Two commercials: Each created with the goal of drumming up consumer excitement and driving traffic and sales.
In the third episode of the RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge, we offer up new spots from Kmart and Walmart for you to critique. At the end of the holiday season, we will put all the winners from the ongoing competition (Toys "R" Us won in week one; Best Buy took week two) up for a vote to determine the merchant with the most to be cheerful about during this season of stress and, hopefully, cheer.
Which is better? You decide.
![[Image: Kmart Kid Talk]](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxIDEiIHdpZHRoPSIxIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEiIGRhdGEtdT0iJTJGcHVibGljJTJGaW1hZ2VzJTJGZGlzY3Vzc2lvbnMlMkYxNzE0MiUyRmttYXJ0LWtpZC1zdGlsbC5qcGciIGRhdGEtdz0iMSIgZGF0YS1oPSIxIiBkYXRhLWJpcD0iIj48L3N2Zz4=)
![[Image: Walmart Talker]](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxIDEiIHdpZHRoPSIxIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEiIGRhdGEtdT0iJTJGcHVibGljJTJGaW1hZ2VzJTJGZGlzY3Vzc2lvbnMlMkYxNzE0MiUyRndhbG1hcnQtdGFsa2VyLXN0aWxsLmpwZyIgZGF0YS13PSIxIiBkYXRhLWg9IjEiIGRhdGEtYmlwPSIiPjwvc3ZnPg==)
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Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What do you think of Kmart’s “Kid Talk” and Walmart’s “Quite the Talker” commercials? Which will do the best job of driving business this holiday season?
Poll
I find both annoying – the kid’s voice in Kmart and the over-caffeinated woman in the second. I’d say this is a draw – and not in a good way.
This is a no-brainer. Walmart could have no commercial at all, or simply just paste their name on the TV screen for 5 seconds, and it would be more of a sales driver compared to anything Kmart would do. It wouldn’t matter if Kmart had the greatest commercial ever made. I’m still traumatized from kids making fun of me 50 years ago for wearing Kmart clothes. The winner is not who has the best message, but who is the best messenger.
The Kmart commercial talks about which toys to buy. The Walmart commercial provides an advantage for shopping early at Walmart. While both commercials are annoying, the Walmart commercial is likely to draw more business to Walmart.
With consumers being reluctant to spend, the Walmart spot hit home through the price match guarantee. The guarantee is true to Walmart’s brand positioning of always having the lowest prices.
Agree with Bob Phibbs … both are annoying and uninspiring, especially for the holidays.
Ads grab attention when you use cute kids, but you have to be able to understand what they are saying if they deliver the message. I honestly couldn’t understand the Kmart message, or what the kid was saying.
The hyper lady was definitely annoying, but delivered the consistent Walmart message of always lowest prices. But for the Holiday season do I want a pitch on how need to worry about what I paid and how I have to keep going back to Walmart to make sure I didn’t get screwed?
Where’s the Folgers coffee commercial of the kid coming home for the holidays and waking up the family with the simple pleasure of freshly brewed coffee?
The kid is cute, but there’s no punch to it, and Walmart, well they’re Walmart, and nothing impressive in that one either. Walmart will still destroy Kmart regardless of how cute Kmart is, and they will win the sales race easily.
I have to agree with Bob Phipps also. I find both commercials annoying and frankly uninspiring. It has been said you never want to follow a child (no matter how annoying and difficult to understand) or a pet in a talent contest. In this case it does not matter as both are difficult to watch. These are ads you don’t want to see again; but my guess is we will.
I think Kmart’s Kid Talk will drive more business because it presents gift ideas, Kmart online shopping “ease” and the promise of satisfied gift recipients. The kid is adorable. He’s a bit difficult to understand, but the visuals carry the story.
Walmart communicates the message that Walmart shopping is a safe bet. However, there is an implicit message. You might not get the best deal from us at first. But if you come back (on your time) we’ll make it up to you. Uh, just a bit more work than I might want to anticipate.
Finally, I don’t find the Walmart creative as engaging. Surely wouldn’t want to watch it again, while I’d be willing to watch the Kmart commercial a second or third time.
I would go with the Kmart ad. The thought of going through the process of getting a price match gift card strikes me as too much work for too little reward.
Likely it depends up which portion of the business that has to be driven. If the focus is toys, the toothless “5 year old” is likely to resonate with Parents with kids of 3 – 6 year olds.
I’d put the money on the “Quite the Talker” spot of Walmart. It offers broader appeal, and answers a question that shoppers may have, and has a quick, pleasant pace by the actress to keep it moving. It tells the consumer that they can spend the money anywhere, and still meet gift-giving and gift-receiving needs.
Both are uninspiring, to say the least. Hopefully, they’ll figure out these two are losers and come up with something better. Fortunately, there is still time to do that.
First off, I could hardly understand the kid in the Kmart ad. Maybe that’s just me but I kinda doubt it.
Neither were very compelling to me but Kmart suggested what to buy, that’s always a good move, and Walmart told me why to buy from them.
Walmart wins this one!
There’s hope for an agency review at both companies!
It was hard to understand the Kmart kid. Pitch of voice and pronunciation were annoying. I had to watch it three times to be sure I got the full message. I don’t think commercials are supposed to be so hard or require so much work on the part of the consumer.
I liked everything about the Walmart “talker.” She was appealing, the message came through, and their reach up into the middle class shopper market was subtle but effective.
I think there is too much focus on what everyone thinks of the ads in the comments, and not enough focus on which ad will do the best job of driving business. Of course Walmart will out-perform Kmart, but even that doesn’t answer the question. It’s a question of driving more business compared to each respective chain’s past performance.
Annoying works. Not exactly endearing, but you will still talk about the ads/think about the ads. Doesn’t anyone remember Seinfeld’s George Castanza singing his own last name in an annoying way so as to stay on the mind of a female who he didn’t want to break up with him? 🙂 I didn’t have too much trouble understanding the boy until the very last shot with the ninja turtle, but I noticed the text on the screen was what he was saying, so I was able to let his poor enunciation slide.
Too much work to go back to Walmart for post-purchase price matching? Who doesn’t go to Walmart about a hundred times in the few months surrounding the holiday season anyway? Maybe that’s just the norm for the demographic in my geographical region.
Bottom line: I think the Kmart ad will drive more business. Kids are cute. I have seen other ads for other businesses similar to both of these, but kids always win. I don’t think Walmart’s business will vary significantly during the holiday season with or without an ad.
I’ll just say this: I await the return of the crazy Target lady in red.
Enough said.
I prefer the Kmart commercial, it’s very cute and touches a nerve with me as I have a toddler that will happily play with the box. But I’m still not likely going to shop at Kmart. It basically just gives me an idea of some things I can shop for elsewhere.
Agree – both are not inspiring. the Kmart commercial is cute and seems to try less hard, so I would have to go with that. I agree that over-all – in the mart war – Walmart wins hands down and probably would still beat Kmart with no advertising.
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I find both annoying – the kid’s voice in Kmart and the over-caffeinated woman in the second. I’d say this is a draw – and not in a good way.
This is a no-brainer. Walmart could have no commercial at all, or simply just paste their name on the TV screen for 5 seconds, and it would be more of a sales driver compared to anything Kmart would do. It wouldn’t matter if Kmart had the greatest commercial ever made. I’m still traumatized from kids making fun of me 50 years ago for wearing Kmart clothes. The winner is not who has the best message, but who is the best messenger.
The Kmart commercial talks about which toys to buy. The Walmart commercial provides an advantage for shopping early at Walmart. While both commercials are annoying, the Walmart commercial is likely to draw more business to Walmart.
With consumers being reluctant to spend, the Walmart spot hit home through the price match guarantee. The guarantee is true to Walmart’s brand positioning of always having the lowest prices.
Agree with Bob Phibbs … both are annoying and uninspiring, especially for the holidays.
Ads grab attention when you use cute kids, but you have to be able to understand what they are saying if they deliver the message. I honestly couldn’t understand the Kmart message, or what the kid was saying.
The hyper lady was definitely annoying, but delivered the consistent Walmart message of always lowest prices. But for the Holiday season do I want a pitch on how need to worry about what I paid and how I have to keep going back to Walmart to make sure I didn’t get screwed?
Where’s the Folgers coffee commercial of the kid coming home for the holidays and waking up the family with the simple pleasure of freshly brewed coffee?
The kid is cute, but there’s no punch to it, and Walmart, well they’re Walmart, and nothing impressive in that one either. Walmart will still destroy Kmart regardless of how cute Kmart is, and they will win the sales race easily.
I have to agree with Bob Phipps also. I find both commercials annoying and frankly uninspiring. It has been said you never want to follow a child (no matter how annoying and difficult to understand) or a pet in a talent contest. In this case it does not matter as both are difficult to watch. These are ads you don’t want to see again; but my guess is we will.
I think Kmart’s Kid Talk will drive more business because it presents gift ideas, Kmart online shopping “ease” and the promise of satisfied gift recipients. The kid is adorable. He’s a bit difficult to understand, but the visuals carry the story.
Walmart communicates the message that Walmart shopping is a safe bet. However, there is an implicit message. You might not get the best deal from us at first. But if you come back (on your time) we’ll make it up to you. Uh, just a bit more work than I might want to anticipate.
Finally, I don’t find the Walmart creative as engaging. Surely wouldn’t want to watch it again, while I’d be willing to watch the Kmart commercial a second or third time.
I would go with the Kmart ad. The thought of going through the process of getting a price match gift card strikes me as too much work for too little reward.
Likely it depends up which portion of the business that has to be driven. If the focus is toys, the toothless “5 year old” is likely to resonate with Parents with kids of 3 – 6 year olds.
I’d put the money on the “Quite the Talker” spot of Walmart. It offers broader appeal, and answers a question that shoppers may have, and has a quick, pleasant pace by the actress to keep it moving. It tells the consumer that they can spend the money anywhere, and still meet gift-giving and gift-receiving needs.
Both are uninspiring, to say the least. Hopefully, they’ll figure out these two are losers and come up with something better. Fortunately, there is still time to do that.
First off, I could hardly understand the kid in the Kmart ad. Maybe that’s just me but I kinda doubt it.
Neither were very compelling to me but Kmart suggested what to buy, that’s always a good move, and Walmart told me why to buy from them.
Walmart wins this one!
There’s hope for an agency review at both companies!
It was hard to understand the Kmart kid. Pitch of voice and pronunciation were annoying. I had to watch it three times to be sure I got the full message. I don’t think commercials are supposed to be so hard or require so much work on the part of the consumer.
I liked everything about the Walmart “talker.” She was appealing, the message came through, and their reach up into the middle class shopper market was subtle but effective.
I think there is too much focus on what everyone thinks of the ads in the comments, and not enough focus on which ad will do the best job of driving business. Of course Walmart will out-perform Kmart, but even that doesn’t answer the question. It’s a question of driving more business compared to each respective chain’s past performance.
Annoying works. Not exactly endearing, but you will still talk about the ads/think about the ads. Doesn’t anyone remember Seinfeld’s George Castanza singing his own last name in an annoying way so as to stay on the mind of a female who he didn’t want to break up with him? 🙂 I didn’t have too much trouble understanding the boy until the very last shot with the ninja turtle, but I noticed the text on the screen was what he was saying, so I was able to let his poor enunciation slide.
Too much work to go back to Walmart for post-purchase price matching? Who doesn’t go to Walmart about a hundred times in the few months surrounding the holiday season anyway? Maybe that’s just the norm for the demographic in my geographical region.
Bottom line: I think the Kmart ad will drive more business. Kids are cute. I have seen other ads for other businesses similar to both of these, but kids always win. I don’t think Walmart’s business will vary significantly during the holiday season with or without an ad.
I’ll just say this: I await the return of the crazy Target lady in red.
Enough said.
I prefer the Kmart commercial, it’s very cute and touches a nerve with me as I have a toddler that will happily play with the box. But I’m still not likely going to shop at Kmart. It basically just gives me an idea of some things I can shop for elsewhere.
Agree – both are not inspiring. the Kmart commercial is cute and seems to try less hard, so I would have to go with that. I agree that over-all – in the mart war – Walmart wins hands down and probably would still beat Kmart with no advertising.