Toys R Us rolls out X'mas message

Designed to entice people into stores -- where the largest single slice of the retailer's marketing budget has been invested in point-of-purchase materials -- the communications revolve around the theme 'Wishes coming true at Toys R Us', with a Christmas stocking visual motif . Facing competition from major retail chains and department stores, which all devote extra floorspace and budgets to toy departments in the weeks before Christmas, Toys R Us has ramped up activity in several areas. This includes blanketing an entire section of a subway station near its flagship store for a whole month from early December to push the brand to the front of shoppers' minds. The above-the-line elements, which include print and some TV buys, are matched by a DM drive, starting with a mailing of the Toys R Us Christmas catalogue to 100,000 members of its Star Card loyalty programme. The catalogue, a key buying stimulus, has also been sent out with newspapers, published on the web and is available instore. To drive traffic instore early in the month, the toy store has also sent 50,000 members a special triple points bonus offer for points redeemed before December 12. The toy chain has also launched a range of different internet executions on Yahoo, with animated toys representing the season's hottest buys appearing from the edges of the screen on Yahoo's home page targeting the portal's two million users. Ads on other pages are more targeted, appearing only to parents and presenting them with one of three lists of recommended toy purchases based on the age of their children. These lists have been fashioned in different formats designed to blend in with the page they are on, with an advertorial mocked up as a news story targeting dads on the news page, for example. The online messages focus more on convenience as Christmas draws closer, communicating functional benefits such as the stores' extended opening hours or their special gift wrapping service.