TAXI DELIVERS KNOCKOUT PUNCH - Strategy

JOHN ST. • THE BAY
Traditionally, the Bay’s Fall Bedroom Event was used to sell bedding and mattresses. But the retailer
wanted to cross-promote other products by looking at the bedroom as a place to do everything but
sleep. “Get in Bed” incorporated traditional media (TV and radio), exterior design, direct mail and in-store
installations that showed how sexy a bedroom could be.
John St. promoted the event with a TV spot, “Lullaby,” as well as a radio campaign to highlight the array
of brand-name linens and perfumes available in-store. Window designs, awnings and exterior signage
took a cheeky tone. “Do not Disturb” door hangers were hung on doors at the Hilton, inviting guests to
visit the Bay for a late-night sneak peek and lingerie runway show.
At Bay stores, bedrooms were installed in unexpected locations to ensure that consumers were aware
of the event, regardless of which department they visited.
The target consumer (a confi dent, upper-income woman in her early 40s) ate it up. Sales of bedding,
pillows, duvets and throws exceeded the previous year by a healthy margin. The mattress division
achieved its sales goal three months early and realized a signifi cant growth in sales vs. the previous year.
AUTO TRADER
To promote its improved customized web search tools, AutoTrader relaunched in 2007 under the
campaign idea “Come meet your match,” which compared the process of fi nding the perfect car to
fi nding the perfect mate. The new search tools enabled prospective buyers to be even pickier (and more
ruthless) than they could ever be on the dating scene.
“You can do that on AutoTrader.ca” was a TV and online campaign that demonstrated the site’s
improved searchability by comparing it to the dating world. John St. created three television ads, each
highlighting a specifi c new search feature on the site. “Research” showed how to discover the history
of a car before you buy it, while “Age” showed how to narrow your search by the age of the car and
“Anniversary” spoke to the fact that you can search for old or new cars. A fourth spot, “Late Night,” was
produced for the phone sex and Lavalife-type dating service ads that dominate the after-11 time slot.
Unique visitors to AutoTrader.ca increased 12% versus the previous year (when the initial campaign
launched at twice the media weight levels of 2008). Recall scores were signifi cantly above Ipsos Reid
norms. The campaign has received attention on the awards circuit, and was chosen to appear on World’s
Funniest Commercials on TBS.
WAR CHILD CANADA
Problems that exist far away are easy to ignore. To make Canadians (and the Canadian media) care
about the plight of the 250,000 child soldiers fi ghting in armed confl icts around the world, War Child had
to make it personal.
John St. was tasked with bringing the war home, and found a location outside of the city. “Camp
Okutta” was a new kind of summer camp where Canadian children could experience the adventures
of real child soldiers. Campokutta.com provided interested parents with information from activities to
sleeping arrangements. John St. posted a video on YouTube and Facebook featuring cheerful counsellors
guiding kids through minefi elds and other training exercises. Teams of counsellors handed out
promotional materials in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Instead of buying media, John St. banked on the shock value of the campaign to attract the attention of
the mainstream press. Within days it was featured on CBC’s The National and was subsequently covered
by all major national media and countless local outlets. The YouTube clip exceeded 100,000 hits, and
traffi c to War Child’s site increased from 400,000 hits a month to 1.5 million, with 82% of those coming
from campokutta.com. Online donations more than doubled versus the previous year.
The campaign won awards across Canada, plus a One Show Bronze Pencil and Best Guerrilla
Marketing Effort from Adweek.
www.strategymag.com STRATEGY November 2008 51