Marketers Prepare for Father’s Day Boom

With $16 billion at stake this Father’s Day weekend, marketers aren’t taking any chances. Brands are pulling out all the stops and connecting with Father’s Day gift-givers through targeted messaging on mobile apps and display ads, as well as interactive social media campaigns.

According to research by Motive Interactive, 77% of Americans are expected to celebrate Father’s Day this year, and 33.8% of shoppers will purchase their gifts online.

With just two days to go before the big day, brand marketers would be smart to ramp up their campaigns now. Researchers at the digital advertising platform ZypMedia discovered that shoppers purchasing gifts for Father’s Day don’t plan nearly as far in advance as they do for Christmas and other major holidays. As a result, last-minute campaigns targeting shoppers are much more likely to have a major impact.

“Generally speaking, we advise advertisers to run long campaigns but alter creative or tactics based on what they are trying to achieve during different campaign time periods. If an advertiser wants to promote a very specific event such as a Father’s Day special sale, we either change creative to promote that specific event or we add additional budget to create extra buzz,” says ZypMedia CEO Aman Sareen.

Father’s Day is also a big deal for department stores. According to Motive’s research, 40% of shoppers will purchase their Father’s Day gifts at department stores this year, with clothing, gift cards, and books ranking as some of the most popular gifts.

“Omnichannel shopping is one of the big trends we will see [this Father’s Day]. While Father’s Day shoppers use mobile to research their gifts, the breakdown of where they shop is vast—from department stores, to online channels, specialty clothing stores, and even catalogs,” says Beatrice Olivas, chief revenue officer at Motive.

“mCommerce will continue to play an important role for Father’s Day shoppers as the most commonly gifted items are increasingly purchased online,” she says.

Father’s Day is an important day for restaurants as well. The Saturday and Sunday of Father’s Day weekend are more lucrative for local restaurants than Valentine’s Day, Super Bowl Sunday, and New Year’s Eve. Research from the data science team at Womply shows that local restaurants average $1,840 in revenue on Father’s Day, which is a 45% increase over a regular Sunday. The average ticket price on Father’s Day is up 31%, as well.

Despite that, one in five restaurants chooses to remain closed on Father’s Day, prompting many families to celebrate the day before the actual holiday.

Of course, the real question is what brands, restaurants, and retailers are doing to capture a greater share of Father’s Day spending.

Piggybacking on the omnichannel trend, brands like Dollar Shave Club, which ships razors and other personal grooming products to customers’ doorsteps, is running a Father’s Day campaign on TV, digital, and social.

The food brand Bagel Bites, makers of the frozen snack pizza bagels, is partnering with pro skateboarder Tony Hawk on a campaign that centers on the hashtag #RealDadSquad. As part of the campaign, Bagel Bites is asking fans to share their best dad tricks on social media, making sure to include branded Giphy stickers and the #RealDadSquad hashtag along with their posts. The campaign also includes two spots and additional social content.

In addition to running across multiple channels, the Bagel Bites campaign highlights another trend in Father’s Day marketing—the push to “modernize” dads. With almost three-quarters (74%) of millennial fathers saying they think marketers are “out of touch” with modern family dynamics, forward-thinking brands are expanding their depictions of fatherhood.

According to Olivas, retargeting and engagement campaigns have been popular tactics, especially for retail brands. Motive’s researchers found that display ad effectiveness peaks on Sunday, with consumers in the “moms, millennials, and Generation Z” demographic showing the least app activity on Fridays.

“Creating personalized experiences through multiple channels—including mobile and connected TV—gives brands the opportunity to identify users who have shown interest in their product or service on their mobile device,” Olivas says. “Brands can also provide more information to the user than what can be displayed in an ad or an online store in a longer, tailored TV commercial.”

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.