• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 26, 2023

JC Penney’s holiday advertising builds on its ongoing “Make It Count” creative platform, focusing on celebrating holidays in ways that mean more, not cost more.

Four different ads, created in-house, are running on broadcast, streaming and social media. They continue to highlight diverse working families, an audience the company believes has been overlooked by many retailers.

JC Penney has also released a report on recent consumer research, zeroing in on this demographic’s cost-conscious approach to celebrating this year. These consumers, especially those in Gen Z, say they’ll cut back on gifts rather than hosting-related spending.

About 52% say they intend to spend $300 or more hosting parties. So the Plano, Texas-based retailer says it is launching the “Penney Prepper Challenge,” a game to see how many can come in under budget, with social users voting on the top #PenneyPrepperChallenge.

JC Penney is tempting them to tackle their gift lists with two chances to shop Black Friday, including an early November event and “unprecedented” giveaways in stores on Nov. 24.

JC Penney isn’t the only company detecting that “fun-loving but frugal” sentiment. A new survey from Accenture describes consumers’ mood as “creative pragmatism.”

While some previous forecasts point to moderate gains, this one reports a 5% decrease in spending, falling to an average of $591 per person. And 60% of those in the survey plan to cut back on gifts to close family and friends. Among extended family and friends, that rises to 69%. Just over half, 52%, say they have or plan to agree with other adults to skip gifts altogether.

These shoppers, “while being grounded in the reality that they may need to cut back in some areas, are also finding innovative ways to make their festive dollars stretch further,” says Jill Standish, a senior managing director at Accenture, in the report.

Frugal shoppers are considering many options, including reusing items such as last year’s decorations (70%), making homemade gifts (52%), buying in bulk (45%), purchasing secondhand gifts (30%) and shopping for store brands (27%).