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strong awareness of Target in Canada,” says Zufferli. “But
we wanted folks to tangibly experience the brand and
understand what makes Target different, [so] we focused
on experiential activations in 2012 because we didn’t have
stores to drive folks to.”
Even before the company’s marketing ramp-up, 61%
of Canadians were looking forward to shopping its aisles
(according to a 2011 study by KubasPrimedia), a number
that was even higher among Canadians who had shopped
at the store across the border, so it appears that Canadians
are excited about Target too.
Nowhere was this excitement more apparent than in its
loyalty card distribution among Canadians. Despite not
having a physical location, 30,000 Canucks had Target’s
Red Card in their wallets as a result of cross-border
shopping, before it became available in Canada.
The no-fee Red Card, which gives customers a lat
5% discount on all purchases, will play an increasingly
important role in the marketing message as well, as the
brand begins to promote it to Canadians.
“We wanted folks on that very irst shopping experience
to reap the rewards instantly. Enabling people to sign up
for the cards online was
a great way to get them
prepared,” says Zufferli.
The promotion for the
card kicked off Jan. 31,
with an online stopmotion
video that walked
people through how to
apply for the two types
of cards (debit or credit),
what it can be used on
and where.
Target’s U.S. marketing team with its 50+ year history
has a strong “big data” system in place to help implement
programs like predictive marketing (even gaining some
notoriety when a New York Times article highlighted its
ability to predict pregnancies of female customers as early
as the irst trimester based on shopping habbits), but
Zufferli says the infrastructure in Canada isn’t as robust yet.
It also hasn’t dipped into the world of e-commerce – an area
that’s growing fast in the Canadian marketplace – with no
immediate plans to open up an online shop, though she does
say it’s part of the “digital road map.”
While the marketing team will need to ensure the initial
excitement of having a nearby Target doesn’t wane and that
customers are turned into repeat shoppers, its main focus,
Zufferli stresses, is ensuring Canadians take that irst trip.
“Folks knew we were coming in 2013. [Since] the calendar
turned to Jan. 1, there’s been an anxious excitement,” says
Zufferli. “I just want to honestly sit in the store when we
open and watch people come in. I just want to see how they
react, what they think and [see] they are excited.”
COUNTRY STYLE’S
SUNNY REBRAND
By Jennifer Horn
With its brown and olive green colour scheme, and menu
boards that lack blown-up food imagery to induce salivation,
Country Style stores were starting to look outdated.
Before agency Lg2 was handed the reins to design a new
experience for its first non-Quebec client, Jason Chaney, VP
strategy, says the QSR was headed toward becoming more
of a quick-serve deli than a charming café, and lacked the
warmth of the small town vibe reflected in its name.
Historically, the chain depended on its coffee products to
drive store traffic, but with McDonald’s having entered the
market with its own java beans, and intense competition
from Starbucks and Tim Hortons, Country Style decided to
differentiate by shifting its focus to the most important meal
of the day.
Extensive research done prior to the rebrand found the
“consistent frustration [among consumers] was that the
breakfast menu ends when they need it most,” says Chaney.
So the brand responded by launching new advertising in
mid-February that highlighted its all-day breakfast menu.
Billboards read, “Breakfast time is whenever you’re reading
this” and radio spots aired at times when competing QSRs
switched over to their lunch menus.
A complete redesign of in-store materials saw the
agency inject brighter colours into the previously two-tone
store. Chaney says the agency “wanted to bring a notion of
connection and friendliness into the graphical elements”
of the advertising and in-store materials, as well as deliver
a more contemporary versus classic country design.
“The [redesign] is about carrying through that friendly,
personable relationship that you would usually see in the
countryside or small town,” he adds.
The sun iconography, as well as warmer yellows and softer
blues on menu boards, coffee cups and bags, give the overall
look of the store a personality jolt, while simultaneously
mirroring the brand’s strategic shift in its menu focus.
March 2013
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