The back-to-school period is becoming an increasingly important moment in the marketing calendar, as brands look to capture changing consumer behaviour and spending patterns as summer gives way to more structured routines.
While traditionally associated with retail and education, the opportunity now extends across categories including consumer electronics, entertainment, travel, food and media. For advertisers, the challenge is understanding that consumers do not all approach the season the same way, with purchasing decisions happening at different points and driven by different needs.
New YouGov research shows that 44% of UK parents and guardians buy most of their back-to-school items in one dedicated shopping session before the new school year, while 38% buy things as and when they need them throughout the year.
Mateusz Ruminski, VP Product at PrimeAudience, argues that this highlights the need for advertisers to look beyond a single back-to-school moment.
“For advertisers, this is a reminder that back-to-school isn’t one fixed moment. People research and buy at different times, with different needs and priorities. Someone looking at laptops in July is in a very different place from someone searching for a last-minute uniform deal in September.
“There’s also a question around how well traditional audience segments keep up with changing behaviour. For example, a 2025 Adlook study found that 67% of users assigned to “parent” audience segments reported not having children, highlighting the limitations of relying on static data and user IDs alone.
“The answer isn’t simply to start campaigns earlier. Advertisers need to pay closer attention to what people are researching, comparing and engaging with, and adapt as those signals change throughout the season. That will become even more important as we move into the busy Black Friday and Christmas period. In a fast-moving shopping season, yesterday’s data is rarely enough.”
A Reset in Consumer Behaviour
The significance of the period is not simply about the immediate demand generated by back-to-school shopping. September also represents a wider reset in consumer behaviour, as families, students and workers return to more predictable routines following the summer.
Mateusz Kolodziejski, CMO at GetResponse, sees this as an important opportunity for brands to reconnect with consumers ahead of the key retail period.
“The academic year kicks off one of the most important periods in the calendar for retailers. Summer often disrupts established routines and buying behaviours, but September represents something of a reset, as families, students and workers settle back into more predictable patterns.
“For brands, that makes back-to-school about much more than a short-term sales opportunity. It’s a chance to re-engage customers ahead of the ‘golden quarter’ and start learning from what they respond to – whether that’s particular products, content, offers or promotions. Those behavioural signals can then be used to make communications more personalised and relevant as competition for consumers’ attention intensifies towards Black Friday and Christmas.
“The brands that start building those relationships now will be in a much stronger position than those waiting until peak season to re-engage their customers.”
This shift toward more sophisticated audience understanding is also changing how brands approach the period. Rather than treating back-to-school as a single audience or seasonal campaign, advertisers are increasingly looking at the different contexts and intentions that sit behind consumer behaviour.
Serena Noble, Senior Sales Manager at RAAS LAB, argues that relevance will be critical as competition for attention increases.
“As consumers reset routines, priorities and spending habits for when schools open for the first term, the opportunity for brands spans categories from entertainment to travel. But as more advertisers compete for attention, simply being present during the moment will not be enough.
“The brands that cut through will be those using richer, impression-level signals to understand the context behind each consumer interaction and adapt creative accordingly. A trainers brand, for instance, serving different messaging to a parent stocking up on uniform than to a college student picking out their pair for the year.
“Back-to-school isn’t one audience with one intent; it’s a moving target. Advertisers who treat it that way, reading the moment and delivering Relevance, rather than just reaching the segment, will be the ones who win it.”
Beyond Retail and Into Media
The opportunity around back-to-school is also extending beyond traditional retail categories, as changing routines influence not only purchasing behaviour but how consumers spend their time and consume media.
Julie Selman, SVP, Head of EMEA at Magnite, highlights the shift in viewing and media consumption that comes with the return to routine.
“Preparation is underway for students returning to school after the summer period as consumers shift back into a routine. As such, their purchasing and viewing habits, media consumption, and daily behaviours all begin to change again. Ultimately, this seasonal marketing event creates a valuable window for brands to reconnect with audiences at a moment of heightened planning and intent.
“What makes this period particularly interesting for marketers is that the opportunity extends well beyond traditional education and retail categories. Brands can use these changing routines to engage consumers in more relevant ways. In particular, as households settle back into more structured schedules, viewing habits shift too, making CTV and streaming an increasingly valuable way for brands to engage consumers at relevant moments.
“Success will depend on moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to seasonal marketing. Data and technology can help advertisers better understand the audiences and moments that matter, activating campaigns across channels such as CTV, display and online video in ways that are both contextually relevant and measurable.”
The changing nature of the period also means that its influence extends beyond the immediate transaction. Back-to-school can act as a wider cultural moment, with recommendations and conversations spreading through social groups as consumers return to their usual communities.
The Power of Influence and Social Networks
Tom Ridges, CEO & Founder of Herdify, sees back-to-school as an important moment for brand recommendations and influence to travel through communities.
“Back to School is essentially one big annual reset for brand recommendations and influence to travel. Kids go back to school, see their friends, talk about what they’ve been doing over summer, what they’re wearing, and bring those ideas straight home to their parents. Then parents talk at the school gates, at work, or over a coffee within their social communities. These are significant moments of offline influence taking place in the real world.
“However, this offline influence travels through social networks and grows through further social reinforcement. So for brands, Back to School isn’t just about running a campaign, selling more, and making a profit. It’s a big moment where all these social networks kick back into gear, and that can have a huge impact on what people end up talking about and, ultimately, buying. “
Overall, the growing importance of back-to-school reflects a broader evolution in the way brands approach seasonal moments. What was once largely viewed as a retail event is becoming a more complex commercial and cultural opportunity, shaped by changing routines, media consumption, purchasing behaviour and social influence.
For advertisers, the challenge is to understand that there is no single back-to-school consumer. Different audiences enter the period with different needs and intentions, while the opportunity increasingly extends across multiple categories and channels.
As brands look towards the crucial Black Friday and Christmas period that follows, back-to-school also offers an opportunity to build relationships, gather behavioural insight and establish relevance at a key point in the consumer calendar.
The convergence of tech and brands 