Brand experience is largely influenced by a brand’s values. With the Scene in Color Film Series, Target reinforced its position as a company that cares about diversity, equity, and inclusion – values which are kept top of mind across the company.

Amplifying the voices of young filmmakers of color by bringing their short films to a larger audience is in line with the philosophy behind the company’s other initiatives, such as “Black Beyond Measure,” which highlight people from diverse backgrounds who are already doing incredible things and supplying them with a larger platform – positioning them for

Recently published data from the Creative Diversity Network found that diversity behind the camera had been getting worse over time. 

This lack of representation behind the camera in media creates a challenge to connect with those audiences on screen. That’s because the creators of the content are not as diverse as the audience itself. 

It’s clear that we need the voices of emerging creators now more than ever. Inclusivity is core to the Target brand. Committed to creating a more equitable creative landscape, the brand teamed up with NBCUniversal to create a series that spotlights diverse voices and gives audiences more inclusive, authentic, and representative content.

Target’s “Scene in Color Film Series” is a docu-style series, hosted by award-winning producer Will Packer, that in its second year introduced and celebrated filmmakers of color across a variety of NBC platforms.  This year’s group of up-and-coming filmmakers told their stories of aspiration in an authentic, approachable way across the NBCU portfolio, which gave them massive exposure and scale. The series also spotlighted last year’s participants, showcasing the progress they’ve made and their impact on their local communities.

As their content aired and audiences learned about them, not only did these filmmakers have the opportunity to grow and thrive under Will Packer’s 1:1 mentorship, they also had the chance to live their ultimate dream of working alongside NBC’s creative executives to develop a TV script for possible pilot greenlight.  With a new network show created by a diverse filmmaker, that’s where real change in media can take place.

More inclusion behind the camera leads to better representation on the screen. To connect with diverse audiences, the strategy was to highlight and support filmmakers that were representative of those audiences. We need the voices of these emerging creators now more than ever and by celebrating them in ways that give them massive exposure, we can create a more representative creative landscape. When they flourish behind the camera, we create more diversity and representation in media for years to come.

In 2022, the “Scene in Color Film Series” ran across multiple media platforms throughout the entire summer, unfolding with Will Packer serving as both the host and a mentor to these young filmmakers.

This year’s program launched with custom creative airing during the prime pod break – the fully-owned first commercial break – during the much-anticipated series finale of This Is Us, a program which – like our program – puts strong emphasis on inclusion and elevating diverse voices. All summer, the artists’ films lived on a dedicated channel on Peacock and Rotten Tomatoes, alongside our seven unique pieces of accompanying custom content.

The filmmakers were also given the ultimate opportunity to have their voices heard and ultimately pitch their shows to run on NBC – which would create more resources, mentorship – and ultimately real everlasting change.

The Scene in Color Film Series and accompanying custom content were a hit. We saw 2.5x Additional Searches YoY, with 1 in 4 audience members who viewed the custom content intending to watch the film series itself. We saw 270k additional searches after our partnership elements aired on linear, with 50% coming from our :30s anthem spot alone.

We also saw a huge brand impact, with 17% boost in favorability, a 32% boost in ad memorability, and a 13% lift in YoY brand memorability.

The American entertainment industry has historically struggled with providing equal representation both in front of and behind the camera for people of color. This series was so important to produce, and timely, as our culture is reckoning with the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion that have prohibited us from hearing more diverse stories over the years. Amplifying the voices of filmmakers of color is a necessity for building a more inclusive industry and ensuring that the stories we see on the screen better reflect the greater population.