• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer, 11 hours ago

While most retailers are counting down to holiday chaos, Tractor Supply is zooming out. The company’s new twist on its “Life Out Here” campaign — filmed on a multigenerational Wisconsin farm with real customers and employees — isn’t just another seasonal flight. It’s an affirmation of the brand’s roots at a time when rural and suburban shoppers alike are feeling squeezed.

Kimberley Gardiner, Tractor Supply’s senior vice president and CMO, tells Retail Insider why the company is sticking with messages of authenticity and self-sufficiency, themes that have defined it since 1938. That means using real families instead of polished spokespeople, helping Gen Z discover “grandma hobbies,” and redefining what value means in a year when uncertainty is the only constant.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Retail Insider: Many people are worried about money right now, and there’s been a real rollercoaster of pricing, especially on some of your core items, like animal feed. What’s the mood of your customers — and how does that shape their shopping behavior?

Kimberley Gardiner: We are definitely seeing more pressure on consumers’ wallets. There’s more anxiety, especially heading into the holidays. Our customer set remain resilient, though, and I think they are pretty optimistic. They are certainly letting us know that value and getting the most out of what they spend is even more important than ever.

Because our lifestyle branding is unique — very much about resiliency and self-sufficiency — we are seeing some folks lean into that even more. They’re asking, "What can I give as a gift to help someone learn how to plant a backyard garden?" They’re making decisions from a practical frame of mind. But they are taking more time to make decisions.

With uncertainty around tariffs, pricing and inflation, they’re spacing out purchases more. But they’re not necessarily waiting and waiting and waiting for the best deal, which is what we saw last year. If people feeling like, "'This is a fair deal, it’s something I want or need," they’re buying those things sooner rather than later. With Tractor Supply — and other retailers — it’s all about building their confidence that they’re making the right decision.

Retail Insider: How does the new campaign help?

Gardiner: It reinforces the culture here. People feel welcome here, like they’ve made a friend. Often, team members know customers by name. They know their pets. The challenge is making that feeling front and center in any of our marketing.

One of the best ways for us to do that is to go to a customer’s property. We film in real stores too, of course, but our customers — and their animals — are our best ambassadors. We shot this all at a five-generation farm in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They had it all: poultry, pigs, chickens, goats, cats, ducks and dogs. Besides the spots, we got so much great behind-the-scenes content, across all age groups. All unscripted!

Retail Insider: Any media changes this time around?

Gardiner: More CTV, and we’re leaning more into organic search and social, which has been useful for retargeting. We’ve been reinvigorating that, especially in Pinterest. And we’re dabbling in Nextdoor, too. Community-oriented media makes sense for us. We’re in college football and also going into more podcasts.

Retail Insider: What’s the key metric you are watching in this climate?

Gardiner: Awareness is really important, but for us, it’s really about consideration, which we’ve seen increase little by little each year. The spots are running with 20 miles of stores. Then we watch search and social very closely – what are they looking for? What are they buying? Who is searching? We look hard at our core customers, but also returning customers and new ones. I love it when I see people using search terms like, "What does Tractor Supply sell?" And of course, we adjust ad strategy around the country based on weather and seasonal needs, especially in the colder months.

Retail Insider: What’s happening with Gen Z?

Gardiner: Younger people, Gen Z in particular, are looking at Tractor Supply more and more, not just for the holidays. For as much as we hear about this generation and AI, they are telling us, "I don’t want to rely on that." I have a 23-year-old daughter who is taking up needlepoint, and she always tells me to put my phone down, that I’m too digital.

Retail Insider: What about community support?

Gardiner: We focus heavily on our Hometown Hero Days for first-responders and veterans. We just wrapped it up last weekend — 99% of our stores raised $500 or more for local organizations. And of course, we do lots with Four H, Future Farmers of America and increasingly, pet adoptions.