LONDON: Argos, the UK catalogue retail chain, plans to promote its broad range of products and same-day delivery convenience with a TV campaign, supported by social media, that it claims is a world first.
Starting April 7th, Argos – and its agency CHI&Partners – will run a series of unique 10-second TV spots for 100 days with each ad featuring a different product or range of products.
A total of 80 date-stamped TV spots will be aired under the strapline "Want it, get it" and they will be accompanied by digital advertising across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
As reported by Marketing Week, search and video-on-demand will also be synchronised to highlight products featured in the TV spots, as well as products that consumers are in the market to buy.
"We get to go on TV for 100 days with 80 fresh executions, actually with no substantial increase in cost," explained Dan Elton, acting Brand Director at Argos.
"This is not a world first for the sake of being a world first. We genuinely think this is going to be more effective," he added.
One of the notable features of the Argos campaign is its intention to use real-world events to inform the content of the TV spots, which are not all fixed yet, so allowing a certain degree of flexibility.
For example, the company may choose to promote its range of paddling pools and other summer gear when the temperature hits a certain level.
Equally, so-called Star Wars Day takes place on May 4th and the celebration of the films created by George Lucas will give Argos an opportunity to showcase its Star Wars merchandise.
Consumer insight and data has helped Argos to plan its campaign, but Elton made it clear that "retail instinct" still played an important role.
"Where possible we have substantiated with data but where [we] can’t use that, [we] used our gut," he said. "We have no evidence to say it's right to put out an ad featuring princess outfits and trampolines on Princess Charlotte's birthday, but we believe it will work."
Argos, which was taken over by retail giant Sainsbury's six months ago, has developed quite a reputation for innovation and consumer engagement.
It was the first retailer in the UK to offer a form of Click and Collect back in the days when customers browsed in-store from catalogues and has been very active in the field of time-sensitive and digital marketing.
Jason Andrews, Associate Director at AllTogetherNow, and Josh Roth, a planner at CHI&Partners, explored these and other Argos initiatives in an article they wrote for Admap last October.
Starting April 7th, Argos – and its agency CHI&Partners – will run a series of unique 10-second TV spots for 100 days with each ad featuring a different product or range of products.
A total of 80 date-stamped TV spots will be aired under the strapline "Want it, get it" and they will be accompanied by digital advertising across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
As reported by Marketing Week, search and video-on-demand will also be synchronised to highlight products featured in the TV spots, as well as products that consumers are in the market to buy.
"We get to go on TV for 100 days with 80 fresh executions, actually with no substantial increase in cost," explained Dan Elton, acting Brand Director at Argos.
"This is not a world first for the sake of being a world first. We genuinely think this is going to be more effective," he added.
One of the notable features of the Argos campaign is its intention to use real-world events to inform the content of the TV spots, which are not all fixed yet, so allowing a certain degree of flexibility.
For example, the company may choose to promote its range of paddling pools and other summer gear when the temperature hits a certain level.
Equally, so-called Star Wars Day takes place on May 4th and the celebration of the films created by George Lucas will give Argos an opportunity to showcase its Star Wars merchandise.
Consumer insight and data has helped Argos to plan its campaign, but Elton made it clear that "retail instinct" still played an important role.
"Where possible we have substantiated with data but where [we] can’t use that, [we] used our gut," he said. "We have no evidence to say it's right to put out an ad featuring princess outfits and trampolines on Princess Charlotte's birthday, but we believe it will work."
Argos, which was taken over by retail giant Sainsbury's six months ago, has developed quite a reputation for innovation and consumer engagement.
It was the first retailer in the UK to offer a form of Click and Collect back in the days when customers browsed in-store from catalogues and has been very active in the field of time-sensitive and digital marketing.
Jason Andrews, Associate Director at AllTogetherNow, and Josh Roth, a planner at CHI&Partners, explored these and other Argos initiatives in an article they wrote for Admap last October.
Data sourced from Marketing Week; additional content by WARC staff
