The new school year is just around the corner, and as teens start to prepare for college and university (and parents start pulling out their wallets) one retailer wants them to know it has all the gadgets to keep kids tapped in.
On Friday, Future Shop launched a multimedia advertising campaign in both English and French to help kick off one of the busiest shopping seasons – back-to-school.
|
|
|
The multimedia effort from Cossette includes a 30-second television commercial, online, out-of-home, social media, on-campus activities and a 15-second cinema spot that targets both teens (the influencers) and their parents (usually the ones footing the bill).
It was important to have a good mix of media in order to reach both groups, Nikki Hellyer, director of marketing for Future Shop, told Marketing. She added that it can be particularly difficult to reach audiences in the summer months given how active they are.
“Knowing we’re a national retailer, it is important to pull national levers like television and online and our flyer drive a lot of that as well,” said Hellyer. “TV and the flyers are more targeted toward the adult audience whereas the other pieces like online and outdoor would appeal more to students in terms of where they’re going to be spending their time this summer.”
The back-to-school shopping period is the retailer’s second-most important selling season, behind the Christmas/Boxing Day period, and acts as a good springboard heading into that holiday season, said Hellyer.
The television commercial shows a male student studying in a library when a host of animated objects bursts from his laptop and start to morph into school-related characters like a crowd at a basketball game.
The animated icons continue to follow the student through the library and outside, as he stays connected through his tablet and eventually an MP3 player. The spot ends with the tagline “Be Everywhere.”
“We’re really targeting that first-year university student, they’re excited because of new friends, new cities, but what they’re worried about is with that new-found freedom comes the anxiety of not being in touch with their friends and family and the world back home,” said Hellyer.
“But technology is really that enabler to staying connected to friends and family and everything you feel you might be missing out on while you’re heading off into this new world,” she said.
Interactive ads (using the same style graphics as the television commercial) have been placed on portals, websites and ad networks that target the student population. Examples include Facebook, Sportsnet, Yahoo, YouTube, Engadget, Warner Music and Hotmail. Media Experts handled the buy.
Future Shop has also developed a social media component that allows students to earn up to $20 in gift cards, per person, by completing various online tasks like using the #BeEverywhere hashtag on Twitter, or becoming the mayor of a Future Shop location on FourSquare.
To participate, users must first download the “Tapped In” app on Facebook and complete the above-mentioned tasks in exchange for credits that can be redeemed for the gift cards (five credits equals $5).
“This campaign was designed to resonate with each unique student on different levels, while conveying the ‘Exciting Stuff’ message that is associated with the Future Shop brand,” said Ed Lea, group creative director, Cossette, in a release.
“We combined the visuals, advertising and social media elements to create a campaign that will reach every student and help them through this important transition period in their lives,” he said.
