• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 23, 2024

Best Buy is introducing “Imagine That,” a new tagline. And the company is rolling out a series of back-to-school ads that star Gram, a remarkably chill hologram willing to talk consumers through their latest tech choices.

The Minneapolis-based retailer says the new effort is a response to a deep-rooted internal questioning, asking “What if…” at many levels. And the campaign is an admission that after six decades of enriching people’s lives through technology, customers don’t always need an expert. They’re more at ease with technology and have often done a great deal of research before purchasing.

“We’re embracing this change, and we’re excited about it because we know it’s where our customers want us to go," says Jennie Weber, chief marketing officer, in the company’s announcement. "This new world of discovery is personal to every customer, their passions and the moments in life that matter most. They want technology to level up their lives — to help them do more of what they love — and there’s no one more passionate and better positioned to do that than Best Buy.”

Gram, who the company says will quickly become a familiar character, is intended to spark customer curiosity, help with discovery and talk some tech. He knows his tech, naturally, but he’s got a few other quirks – maybe don’t show him a horror film or try to knit him a sweater.

Best Buy created the campaign in-house. Back-to-school ads are running on connected TV, online and social media platforms.

Along with the new tagline and ads, Best Buy is also introducing a refreshed color palette, adding hints of teal, red and magenta to the familiar blue and yellow.

The effort coincides with new online and in-store personalization efforts, an upgraded app that includes a new digital wallet and rewards experience and “Shop with Video” features.

Best Buy says consumers have asked for more video content as part of the shopping journey, so the retailer plans to roll out 500 videos by year-end on its YouTube channel, triple the number made last year.

It is also leveraging a partnership with CNET to integrate unbiased editorial advice from CNET’s experts throughout its channels.

The new campaign comes at a rough moment for Best Buy, which posted a 6% drop in sales in the most recent quarter despite increased profitability and growth in membership programs.

Observers have been saying that the replenishment cycle is a big problem. Consumers are still navigating uncertainty and aren’t likely to replace phones, computers or TVs until they have to.

Some analysts who follow Best Buy see hints of improvement. “We look positively on the results that show building momentum from replacement, upgrade and product cycles, particularly in laptop computers,” writes Seth Basham, an analyst at Wedbush. “We are encouraged by accelerating comparable sales growth in laptops.” Basham gives Best Buy a neutral rating. He also thinks the introduction of Microsoft’s Copilot AI tool in 40 Best Buy products should drive even stronger sales going into the back-to-school seasons.

Others are more skeptical. Best Buy may be “uniquely well-positioned to educate and serve more mass market consumers, particularly in new product areas, such as AI,” writes Brian Nagel, who follows Best Buy for Oppenheimer. But at this point, he believes it’s still too early to bet on the company as an automatic winner in consumer-focused AI technologies.

“Thus far, stocks of AI-enabled consumer technologies are very limited and still largely experimental,” he says. “Past, significant product cycle evolutions suggest that mass-market consumers can prove slow to adopt new technologies aggressively, while they await clarity on uses and functionality and potentially lower price points.”