In Fall 2020, we were challenged to comp our massive YOY sales numbers for JoJo Siwa at Walmart while driving awareness and conversion of key priorities of the JoJo back-to-school collection (inclusive of apparel, shoes, school supplies & more). With the global pandemic causing a seismic shift in shopping behavior from brick & mortar to ecommerce as a result of COVID-19 concerns and restrictions, we knew this would be no small feat to achieve.
It was clear that this campaign couldn't be our typical back to school campaign as there was nothing typical about how kids went (or didn't go) back to school in 2020! The one certainty was that we knew we had to approach the campaign uniquely, but manage to deliver the same positivity that is JoJo Siwa's trademark.
Our ultimate intention was to create a big splash at retail with a marketing promotion that would engage shoppers through a fun & new interactive shopping experience while at home. With so much uncertainty in the world, we wanted to develop a campaign that highlighted the product, while helping Siwanatorz across the nation feel optimistic and confident as they started a new school year! We developed a truly digital first campaign, "Be Your Selfie”, that engaged Siwanatorz via all-new interactive experiences & featured exclusive content from JoJo that spanned across Walmart.com, social & YouTube.
We knew we had to think outside of the box in order to stand out in this new ecommerce first shopping environment, but planning during the early days of the global pendemic provided some incredible challenges. One of the first pivots we made was to refocus our marketing efforts to be entirely digital- with no instore components.
Our brand page, walmart.com/JoJoSiwa, would be the hub for our promotion-- serving as the ULATIMATE destination for Siwanatorz who wanted the latest JoJo gear for Back to School and fresh content from JoJo herself. We created a first of its kind fan experience which gave Siwanatorz the opportunity to get Back to School advice directly from JoJo! Through an innovative experience on our Walmart.com Brand Page, Siwanatorz could choose questions that they wanted to to see JoJo answer in an upcoming video that would live exlusively on the JoJo Brandpage on Walmart.com. To help promote this epic opportunity, JoJo Siwa created custom content where she personally encouraged her fans to submit their questions. The promotion culminated with the premiere of her Back to School answer video exclusively on Walmart.com!
The largest challenge we faced in the execution of this was that of messaging. Because of JoJo's schedule we often have to film content months in advance. Since we did not know what the state of the world would be in August when the campaign ultimately went live, we had to plan for many eventualities. We had JoJo film multiple versions of every video message so that we would have greater flexibility to tailor our approach as we got closer to the campaign launch date.
Because of this, we were able to deliver a campaign message that was on brand but also really resonated with Walmart shoppers and Siwanatorz as it directly reflected current events.
We were incredibly proud of this campaign as it demonstrated adaptability and flexibility during an unprecedented year. Despite the challenges we faced during the planning process, the resulting campaign was comprehensive, cohesive and reflective of the current environment.
Our campaign delivered over 20 million impressions across our digital and social initiatives and drove an incremental 50k visits to our brand page for fans engaging with the first of its kinda Question and answer experience.. Most importantly, our efforts to promote the back to school items, lifted the overall JoJo Siwa business at Walmart during this trimeframe. We saw an impressive +10% sales lift for the overall JoJo Siwa business across all categories (vs. YAG). JoJo never fails to shine wherever she goes!
