Electronics retailer Future Shop has retained Citizen Optimum as its public relations agency of record following a formal review that began in early January.
The Vancouver-based retailer issued an RFP to eight agencies that were well-aligned with its business, and whittled it down to a shortlist of three, said communications manager Elliott Chun.
While acknowledging that a lot of “strong candidates” pitched on the business, Chun said Optimum was selected on three main criteria, including last year’s hire of industry “heavyweight” – and former director of special projects for Walmart – Kevin Groh as vice-president.
“He’s got several years of retail experience and we see him as a heavyweight up there with [general manager] Nick Cowling,” said Chun. “Having those two helped reinforce that we’re making the right decision.”
Chun said the organizational alignment between Citizen Optimum and its affiliated agency Cossette – which has been Future Shop’s creative AOR since 2008 – was also a key factor in the decision. “We could really see the value in having Citizen Optimum just naturally plugging into the marketing plans,” said Chun. “It just rolls in seamlessly.”
Future Shop is also eager to embrace more social media-related activity in its public relations, said Chun, and Citizen Optimum capably demonstrated several new approaches that the retailer will adopt in the coming year.
Citizen Optimum general manager Nick Cowling said that pitching as an incumbent can be difficult, because the agency tends to be aware of a client’s inherent preferences and biases. That can cause them to play it safe when pitching the business, perhaps shelving a workable idea because they sense the client wouldn’t like it.
“When you’re asked to put forward ideas in a pitch, you tend to come up with great ideas and then say ‘I don’t know if the client is going to go for it,’” said Cowling. “We really worked hard to use all of the knowledge we have… but said ‘If we were starting from scratch, what would be the best plan?’”
Citizen Optimum began working with Future Shop nearly five years ago. Cowling said the two partners will soon start planning for the next fiscal year, with Citizen Optimum keen to adopt what he characterized as a “different approach.” The retail sector tends to put considerable emphasis on quantitative results, he said, but Citizen Optimum’s objective is to “balance that out” with more quality.
“Share of voice is great, but share of heart and mind is a lot better,” said Cowling. “What we can do is bring a lot more credibility to our function by focusing more on the quality of what we do rather than how many times the Future Shop name is seen.”
That approach, said Cowling, is embodied by programs such as last fall’s “Future Shop Smartphone Speed-Dating Challenge.” The program enabled bloggers and media to sample and experience the latest smartphone devices from various product manufacturers with the help of Future Shop’s product experts.
