Design and fashion week in New York City. Target wanted to reinforce its position as a mainstream retailer with a love of design and fashion. It also needed to demonstrate its relevancy to the city’s culture. But it didn’t even have a store in Manhattan. All it had were nine billboards, over 20,000 square feet of real estate in Times Square. Most consumers in America trust target as a credible retailer for design and fashion but New Yorkers are not as familiar with the store since it is not as accessible to them. We needed to develop a multi-faceted campaign that started as an outdoor execution that reinforced Target’s connection to New York but then took it beyond the outdoor space and into the physical world so New Yorkers could literally interact with the brand. Target meet New York. New York, meet Target.

Our solution: We got four local, up-and-coming artists to develop all nine panels, each in their own unique style. Each panel became a graphic representation of the city itself. But we didn’t stop there. We then divided the 9 boards into 1600 pieces of vinyl. And consumers could go online and purchase a section of the board for $29.99. Then we got well-known fashion designer, Anna Sui to design handbags using the vinyl from the outdoor boards. We promoted the campaign through print in local media and online on Target.com. 9 billboards by 4 New York artists became 1600 handbags by Anna Sui. And in the process we promoted Target’s commitment to design and fashion and brought New Yorkers literally in touch with the brand. We also reinforced Target’s social responsibility by recycling a board that would’ve just been stored or destroyed.

The result. All the bags were sold out in two weeks. The billboard and campaign as a whole created much buzz during the events of fashion and design week.