Indigo is encouraging Canadians to unplug and unwind during their weekends.
Beginning September 10, the book, gift and specialty toy retailer (which also operates under the Chapters and Coles banners) will be hosting themed weekends at its locations across the country. The events, which run from Thursday to Sunday for eight consecutive weeks, will include a Star Wars-themed event, a coloring day and a pajama party.
According to Samantha Taylor, vice-president of marketing at Indigo, the campaign was born of a key consumer insight. Research revealed that fans of the brand value the tangible, in-store experience above all else.
“Often times they crave that in-store experience to unplug, unwind and spend time being inspired, finding their new read and even just speaking and engaging with our store staff,” Taylor said. “Given that insight we really wanted to developed a long-term, continuity campaign that spoke to customers and inspired them to come in and get back to their happy place.”
The effort, aimed at what Taylor called “life- maximizers” or men and women 25-45 “who have busy lives, a significant love of reading and are really interested in engaging in things that make their life better,” is a bit of a departure for the brand, which usually only runs ad campaigns timed around holidays.
“This is one of the largest campaigns we’ve done outside a key holiday season to inspire customer visits and customer loyalty during the fall period,” said Taylor.
“As people go into the fall period, they start to work their way back to routine, work their way back indoors and as life kind of settles into fall — which is our biggest release for books as well — remind them that the love they have for our in-store environment is still there.”
Despite the prevalence of e-readers, online competitors like Amazon and Walmart, and a weaker Canadian dollar, Taylor said business is still strong, which she credits to the brand’s exceptional customer service and in-store atmosphere.
“We’re thrilled with how the business is going and there is definitely a fantastic interaction with our customers in-store,” she said.
Indigo is supporting the effort with digital, social, OOH, print and radio pushes across Canada. With the exception of radio, the same creative is running in Quebec. There’s also a nationwide Instagram contest, which asks Canadians to post their #IndigoWeekend photos for the chance to win a $100 gift card and 35,000 Plum points.
“Make it an Indigo Weekend” wraps up on Nov. 1. The effort was developed in-house, with UM handling the media buy.
