Target mixes up content with commerce

Target is teaming up with DailyCandy.com, the Comcast-owned blog known for its "unique and quirky writing style", to create a special section of Target.com that will feature articles and artwork by the DailyCandy team of writers and designers.

The DailyCandy team will select items from Target's up-and-coming designer collections and write about them in the new co-branded section called "Red Hot Shop". All the selected items can be purchased via a button to Target's e-commerce website and it is reported that Target is paying DailyCandy as part of a wider advertising deal.

But does content + commerce = sales? Not everybody thinks so. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Emily Steel quotes Forrester Researcher Sucharita Malpuru as saying, "The idea back in the dot-com heyday was that you could use content to drive people to commerce. The reality is that never happens. People who are looking for content are looking for content. People who are looking for shopping are looking for shopping."

Target recently began selling ads on other parts of its website, such as the "New at Target" box on its homepage that highlights a particular product and is paid for by the product manufacturer.

Tags: advertising deal, articles, blog, content, DailyCandy, ecommerce, online shopping, Target