The holiday season is rapidly approaching so your social media feeds and email inboxes are probably jammed with messages about Black Friday. You've probably seen a million articles about how to get the best deals or marketing tips for how to capitalize on Black Friday shopping.
My hot take is that if you’re waiting until Black Friday to start marketing, you’ve already lost.
But that’s not what we’re here for. Rather than another article pitching tips and tricks, I wanted to provide a brief history of the holiday that signals the start of the holiday shopping season.
What is Black Friday?
If you live outside of North America, the UK, Australia, and certain parts of Europe, you might not be familiar with Black Friday.
Black Friday is the day immediately following Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November.
As I alluded to earlier, Black Friday is known for shopping. For decades shopping traffic has increased as stores and retailers have created new exciting marketing strategies to help capture shoppers' attention. But the history of Black Friday is largely overlooked and honestly pretty interesting.
The Government’s Role
Thanksgiving was declared a holiday on October 3, 1789, by George Washington after the first Federal Congress passed a resolution that asked him to suggest a day for a national thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated on November 26th, 1789, but the holiday lacked consistency. After George Washington’s proclamation, his successors would issue their own calls for a National Day of Thanks. They would usually change the day and sometimes even the month that Thanksgiving was celebrated.
According to Archives.com Thanksgiving wasn’t held on a consistent day until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that it should take place on the final Thursday of November in 1863.
And that’s how things proceeded until 1939. The problem during 1939 was that the final Thursday of November took place on the last day of the month, which did not sit well with the Retail Dry Goods Association. They were concerned that the shortened holiday shopping season would cause economic turmoil, so they asked that President Roosevelt intervene.
FDR issued his Presidential Proclamation on October 31st, announcing that Thanksgiving would be observed on the 23rd of November, or the 4th Thursday of the month, effectively extending the holiday shopping season by an extra week.
How Black Friday Got Its Name
According to History.com, the first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was used in 1869. Back then it was not used to describe Holiday shopping, though. It was the name given to the crash of the U.S. Gold market. While this event has nothing to do with what we all think of today, the negative connotation around Black Friday resurfaced nearly 100 years later.
In the early 1960s, shoppers would descend upon Philadelphia in unusually large numbers to take advantage of widespread sales events and attend the Army-Navy football game. The day was dubbed “Black Friday” by police officers who ended up working long shifts to deal with the increased traffic, accidents, crime, and other issues that came with the surging crowds.
The Spread of Black Friday
Retailers in Philadelphia tried to change the name to something more positive in the following years, but nothing stuck. By the 1980s Black Friday had made its way across the United States.
Black Friday continued to grow until it became the biggest shopping day of the year. There is some evidence to suggest that the trend might not continue, however. As I write this in 2022, Business Insider has reported that Cyber Monday is set to eclipse Black Friday shopping this year.
My Favorite Black Friday Marketing Campaign
Since we are a marketing company, after all, I would be remiss to leave you without something marketing related. So instead of tips and tricks, I'm going to share my favorite Black Friday marketing campaign.
Back in 2015, REI, the outdoor gear retailer, did something that caught everyone’s attention on Black Friday. They announced that their stores weren’t going to be open.
After years of experiencing increased foot traffic in their stores and the general craziness that Black Friday generally creates, REI said enough was enough. Instead, they launched their #optoutside campaign. Rather than forcing their employees to deal with unruly crowds, the outdoor giant closed up shop and encouraged their customers and employees to get outside and enjoy the holiday.
It may seem like a bold strategy for a store to close on the biggest shopping day of the year, but REI still allowed customers to make purchases on their website. So how did this campaign work out? In 2015, after they made the announcement, REI reported a 9.3% increase in revenues and a 23% increase in digital sales.
It may not work for everyone, but REI made a decision that spoke to their brand and company values while also making a giant marketing splash.
Well done REI.
JSX Marketing
As I mentioned earlier, if you’re just starting to think about marketing around the holidays, you’ve already lost. Marketing is a long-term strategy that needs to be executed over time. If you’re interested in learning more, contact us today.
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