Shoppers Drug Mart is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Canada with a national multiplatform campaign, one of the largest in the drug store chain’s advertising history.
The effort has been a year in the making and kicks off Sept. 8 with a national makeover in-store event.
The retailer, along with Toronto agency Capital C, developed a theme of looking, feeling and living fabulous in order to coincide with Shoppers’ three brand pillars –health, beauty and convenience – said Sandra Sanderson, senior vice-president of marketing.
Despite having 98% brand awareness in Canada, Sanderson said it was important to touch consumers in an emotive way for this campaign.
That “emotive” intention will be a part of the “50 Years of Fabulous” digital hub developed by Trapeze that launches Aug. 13. Consumers will be able to share their favourite moments of how the drug store chain has helped them look, feel and live fabulous over the years. The stories will be featured within a timeline on the site that also shows major milestones in the company’s history.
Shoppers Drug Mart will promote the digital hub to two million of its e-mail subscribers, through social media, an online ad buy and through its website, which Sanderson said receives more than 1 million unique visitors each month.
The campaign also includes a contest – the largest Shoppers says it has ever run – although prizes had not be made public at press time. As part of a partnership with Shaw Media, 10 of the winners will be announced live on ET Canada and three winners will be announced at a red carpet event during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
For consumers turning 50 this year, Shoppers has partnered with Carlton Cards for an exclusive card that will be sent to them in the mail.
Because the celebration kicks off the same weekend as the Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend To End Women’s Cancer fundraising walk in Toronto, the retailer will have “celebration stations” set up along the route with water and cake.
Along with printing partner St. Joseph, the retailer is also producing a glossy magazine with stories featuring its beauty advisors and pharmacists, and more than $50 in product value worth of coupons.
“We really wanted to leverage this unique window of opportunity to engage the hearts of our customers, our stores and our business partners,” said Sanderson. “We didn’t want this major milestone to be just about a sale.”
The campaign also includes print ads and themed flyers. The creative for the campaign was developed in-house.
Aegis handled the media buy. Pareto developed in-store materials.
