It’s time to look at the shortlist for Marketer of the Year, which appears in Marketing’s Nov. 19 issue. We’ll be featuring each one online as a lead-up to our January 2013 issue, where you’ll find out which marketer will reign supreme.
Loblaw followed the new rules of engagement, connecting to consumers through branded entertainment, community involvement and 140 characters
For Loblaw, it was the year of the 60-minute TV spot.
The grocer made a major move into branded content with the launch of Recipe to Riches, a reality TV show on Shaw Media’s Food Network Canada in which home cooks compete to have family recipes turned into President’s Choice products. Weekly winners received $25,000 and their recipes ultimately sold as products in Loblaw stores across the country just 48 hours after each episode aired. Viewers then voted for the grand prize winner of $250,000. Talk about the icing on the Luscious Lemon Pudding Cakes (the ultimate winner).
With a razor-sharp focus on consumer engagement, the company had a number of marketing hits. While television is still a “significant component” of Loblaw’s ad spend, says Allan Lindsay, vice-president brand marketing at Loblaw Companies Ltd., the company is moving more advertising dollars into digital, branded content and event-driven programs. The result is innovative campaigns that put its products—and consumers—in the spotlight.
First, Recipe to Riches, developed by Temple Street Productions, took product integration to a new level. “What it brought to food programming that had never happened before is the opportunity to really close the loop,” says Lindsay. “So you watch a food show, are engaged in the personalities and the product, but every viewer can then [go to a Loblaw] store and buy that product for themselves.”
Barb Williams, senior vice-president content at Shaw Media, says the show “truly is a brand new concept. I don’t think it’s been done anywhere.” Another bonus: viewers “had a hand in it all because they got to vote and influence who won.”
Recipe to Riches drew an estimated 640,000 viewers each week, according to BBM Canada. And while Lindsay won’t reveal sales numbers, he says a good indication of success “is the fact that we’re doing season two,” which premiered Oct. 17.
Loblaw and Shaw promoted Recipe to Riches’ sophomore effort with a three-week campaign, including billboards, print, online ads and in-store marketing that focused on the cash prizes available to contestants. The copy-driven creative featured messages like “Is this cookie worth a ton of dough?” and “Could a veggie dish lead to piles of green?”
In another partnership with Shaw, Loblaw created PC BBQTown, a summer-long initiative that positioned President’s Choice as “Canadians’ destination for all of their barbecue needs,” says Lindsay.
Canadians could nominate and vote for their community to win one of nine PC barbecue parties and the grand prize winner (Chatham, Ont.) received a barbecue with a concert and $25,000 donation to a local charity. Co-branded spots on Food Network encouraged viewers to nominate, vote for and attend the tour stops. Nearly 400 communities were nominated, the campaign received more than 37,000 votes and more than 47,000 people turned up for the events.
Loblaw also generated plenty of buzz around the Greater Toronto Area with the November 2011 opening of its new flagship store at the historic Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The 81,000-sq.-ft. location features a cheese wall, gelato bar, bakery, patisserie and a 130-seat “canteen” where consumers can enjoy chef-made meals.
With the slogan “Food’s Greatest Stage,” an integrated marketing campaign included subway domination, print and out-of-home, as well as direct mail and social media outreach that invited Torontonians to come out for the grand opening. More than 18,000 people visited the store on opening day and since then an estimated 12,000 people come through the store daily. In one month alone, the store delivered 91 million media impressions.
“What is unique about that store beyond its physical experience are some of the programs we run in that store,” says Uwe Stueckmann, Loblaw’s senior VP of marketing.
For instance, “You Want It, We Get It” lets customers tweet in a product request and the store will attempt to source it. Near the entrance of the store is a list of all the products that have been sourced this way, along with the customers’ Twitter handles, the product they requested and what aisle it can be found in.
It’s the only location that has its own Twitter handle and a way for Loblaw to “engage with our customer base at that store,” says Stueckmann.
There’s that word “engagement” again; in 2012, Loblaw proved it is one company that truly gets it.
To read more about the companies that made the Media Players of the Year and Marketers of the Year shortlists, check out Marketing’s Nov. 19 issue, which is on newsstands now.
