Target is strengthening its position in fashion retail by letting consumers create their own spring collection style show via a new iAd campaign.

The iAd, which appears in applications such as The New York Times for iPhone, clearly ties the shopping experience into the mobile experience - something which is a growing trend in retailers? mobile advertising efforts.

?The secret is out and inescapable - the cell-phone is a pervasive tool for a majority of retailer shoppers,? said Brennan Hayden, vice president at wireless developer agency WDA, East Lansing, MI.

?And they aren?t just twittering through the aisles chatting about their day,? he said. ?Rather they are using their phone in ways that are focused on the shopping experience.?

The shopping experience
Retail advertisers such as Target are responding to this trend in growing numbers.

Mr. Hayden points to a recent study from Yahoo and Nielsen as evidence of this trend and predicts that there will be an explosion in the volume and quality of mobile ad units during the second quarter of 2011.

The report, ?Mobile Shopping Framework: The role of mobile devices in the shopping process,? stated that nine out of 10 mobile users have accessed the mobile Web while at a store and approximately 50 percent of in-store mobile Web activity is related to shopping.

This in-store mobile Web activity includes 48 percent of mobile users taking and/or sending a picture of a product to someone they know while shopping in-store.

Growing number of retailers are focusing on the shopping experience in their advertising as a result of the trends in consumer use, said Neil Strother, practice director, mobile marketing strategies and mobile services, at ABI Research, New York.

?The combination of growing numbers of consumers accessing content on their mobile devices and using the commerce capability of these devices is spurring the growth in retail mobile advertising,? Mr. Strother said.

Advertisers are also dedicating more of their budget to mobile, he said.

?What Target is doing is a reflection of where the market is.?

Target did not respond to a request to comment by press time.

Target?s current iAd follows a holiday campaign from the retailer, on iAd, that allowed users to stay within their application while engaging with the ad and looking for gift ideas, tips and recipes. 

The latest ad on iAd tries to engage consumers with its ability to see a show of spring styles. It is also practical thanks to the use of a clear button for finding the nearest Target location.

The ad begins with a banner across the bottom of a content page enticing consumers with a reference to the catwalk.

Another screen promises to let consumers create their own fashion show from Target?s spring collection.

Then, users are given a chance to pick from different items in the spring collection that they would like to include in their show.

Users can create multiple shows.

?Target has done a good job of driving in-store foot traffic with mobile,? Mr. Strother said.

Final Take