Back-To-School Brand Campaigns Are Up for Grading!

As students head back to class, it’s time to grade 2024 back-to-school brand campaigns. Read until the end to discover the best (and worst) in class, and learn how to satisfy the real decision-makers and the final users.

Back-to-school season is one of the hottest and most challenging battlefields for companies. As students and parents prepare for the return to classrooms, their priorities often differ. Yet, the excitement and urgency surrounding this time of year provide fertile ground for clever, real-time marketing strategies that capture attention. In 2024, brands have unleashed a range of innovative campaigns—some more effective than others.

Let’s dive into the most talked-about back-to-school brand campaigns and see whether they achieved their desired grades.

Two approaches – push the parents or pull them through their kids

Table of Contents

Two approaches – push the parents or pull them through their kids
Targeting parents with back-to-school brand campaigns
Targeting students
Bonus – leveraging back-to-school time to speak to the population
Succeeding on back-to-school brand campaigns in 2024

The final decision maker is usually the parents, and this happens almost in all the product categories related to back-to-school. The only exceptions are books and IT devices, more related to college and university students who can already spend for themselves:

GWI 2024 Data – U.S. Population, do you plan any back-to-school expenses? – Yes

However, kids have extremely high influencing power over their families, making it hard for brands to conceive effective creative messages.

Targeting parents with back-to-school brand campaigns

May not sound exciting, but the number one priority for parents in 2024 is about costs of school items and supplies. This is due to inflation and the rising costs of books, clothing, and everything that their children could need.

Taking the U.S. as a point of reference, while the average expenditure per child is not surpassing the record of 890 $ per household in 2023 (National Retail Federation), it is not destined to go significantly down either, after years of costs constantly rising.

Among the brands addressing this pain point, Amazon has consistently been at the top of its class in recent years. In 2024, the e-commerce giant continues its winning formula with a clever, long-term strategy aimed squarely at parents. Its message? “Spend less on your kids.” After all, why not save where you can?

Amazon’s approach is simple yet powerful, leveraging its reputation for competitive pricing to resonate with parents struggling against rising back-to-school expenses. Any potential concerns about children’s satisfaction are cleverly sidestepped with a humorous tone, making the campaign both relatable and positive.

This strategy can be effective for retailers, but relying solely on price can sometimes make a brand’s message feel too “cheap.” A standout example from last year by L.L. Bean shows how a brand can address the pain point of high expenses without compromising on quality or image.

L.L. Bean targeted price-conscious parents with a humorous, relatable campaign that emphasized the long-term savings of investing in durable products. They cleverly chose to portray the child doing everything possible to destroy the backpack, highlighting its toughness. The campaign is not only entertaining but also strikes a chord with parents who know all too well how “destructive” their little ones can be. The result? A smart balance between cost-conscious messaging and quality assurance.

Targeting students

Companies that choose to target students in their back-to-school brand campaigns choose two main pain points:

Again, price consciousness, but only for those who are buying for themselves. In this case, deals and Prime days are the most preferred way to target a generation who knows too well how to get smart deals online.
The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): No one wants to feel left out or appear out of the loop, especially when it comes to having the latest must-have items that everyone else seems to own.

For those communicating with the new generation is crucial to not act only based on stereotypes. Actually, many brands talking to the GEN Z and the Alpha generation often look like this:

Using the wrong language can quickly turn the fear of missing out (FOMO) into the fear of being cringe. This could reverse the influencing power of children and teenagers and turning them against the very brands trying to win them over. In 2024, Walmart attempted to connect with the new Generation Alpha, but their over-the-top approach backfired, resulting in online backlash and ridicule.

The ad shows very modern kids giving “style class” to their parents. The video has been widely disliked (currently 30k dislikes against 5,5k likes with over 1 million views), and become a target online for meme creators. Here are two of the funniest.

Instead, a smart way to play with FOMO is to discover what is important this year for students and to find a way to make communication more relatable.

Back-to-school haul reels are getting more and more popular over the years on TikTok and YouTube and are one of the easiest channels to reach students.

Thus, brands can use these hauls to collect information about what the trendsetters are looking for or as a promotional opportunity using an influencer marketing approach.

Bonus – leveraging back-to-school time to speak to the population

As students head back to school, it’s also election season in the U.S.—a prime opportunity to deliver a clever message to the nation.

In a bold move, a Democratic commercial humorously targets Trump, depicting him as a mean school bus driver. Would you trust him around your children? If not, why should you trust him with your country?

Succeeding on back-to-school brand campaigns in 2024

Back-to-school brand campaigns aren’t just a moment for marketers to sell products. They are an opportunity to make meaningful connections, build trust, and show an understanding of their audience. As brands strive for top marks and sales, those who truly get their audience’s pain points succeed. Instead, those who miss the mark will likely find themselves sitting in the corner.

Thus, investing in knowing your audience not just from a demographic perspective but from a human point of view is the key you need to conquer it and get an A grade.

How do you know if you already know your audience enough?

Well, it will never be enough, but be sure to be able to answer at least these 5 questions:

Who is your key decision-maker?
What are their emotional and social concerns?
What is driving its decision? FOMO, impulsive purchases, feeling smart with long-term purchases, etc.
What is the language that your target is using? Is there any slang you should be aware of?
What are the current channels and types of media that my audience is more comfortable with?

You can apply these five questions to campaigns throughout the year. If you’re unable to answer them confidently, it might be time to revisit and thoroughly understand your audience.