Roots has partnered with eight up-and-coming Canadian musical acts in a new campaign.
The retailer, which has long been involved in arts and culture, has lined up acts from across the country including YouTube sensation Ruth B, electronic pop duo Humans, country singer/songwriter Meghan Patrick, Montreal singer Charlotte Cardin, Toronto rapper Jazz Cartier, pop singer Tyler Shaw, indie rock guitarist Scott Helman, and the new trio EMP.
A portrait series of the Roots-clad artists shows how they interpret the theme “sweatstyle.” The campaign also includes in-store musical performances in Canada and the U.S., which will be broadcast on Facebook live.
“The campaign allows us to diversify and regionalize our reach, while showing that our iconic products and wardrobe staples can really be personalized, depending on how it’s worn and who’s wearing it,” said James Connell, vice-president of marketing and ecommerce at Roots. “By using artists that are appealing in different regions of the country, as well as different music genres, we’re able to reach their audiences as well as the regions where they’re from quite effectively.”
The campaign, created in-house, is running across a number of channels including social media, newspapers, magazines, out-of-home and digital.
Roots has also partnered with Spotify on a branded playlist featuring the artists. The playlist can be listened to on Spotify as well as at a listening station at Roots’ flagship store at CF Eaton Centre in Toronto. Spotify collaborated with Roots on print and digital ads, as well as social media channels, to promote the playlist.
Roots is also partnering with Vice‘s music channel, Noisey, on content to promote the artists.
Since its founding in 1973, Roots has been involved in numerous projects supporting Canadian musical artists including Deborah Cox, Jacksoul/Haydain Neale and the Moffatts.
Roots’ big 2015 campaign featured a number of Juno awarding-winning and Grammy-nominated artists including k-os, Tokyo Police Club frontman Dave Monks, and Hannah Georgas.
“Roots has the ability to work with these artists very early on in their careers and they’re starting to really expand and grow,” said Connell. “As creators in Canada, we feel like it’s very important to support that community because we feel like we’re a big part of that community.”
Toronto-based Empire Public Relations is handling PR for Roots.
