LONDON: The shopping experience at Argos is undergoing a transformation under new ownership, and the UK retailer aims to achieve a similarly dramatic shift in consumer perceptions with its latest advertising.
"Argos needs to challenge four-decade held perceptions that it is the catalogue king and transform the brand so that it is universally recognised as a leading digital retailer," declared Rebecca Munds, Planning Partner, CHI & Partners.
In an interview with WARC, she noted that Argos – which began as a pioneer in the catalogue business, before introducing Check and Reserve, and then Click and Collect – "has a reputation for immediacy and it's bringing that into the modern world". (For more details, read WARC's exclusive report: How Argos is modernising for the now generation.)
That's the premise of the brand's current campaign, "80 Days of Argos", which sees 80 ads, each one date-stamped and focused on a particular product, running throughout summer – and each with the promise that if you can order it by 6pm, you can own it by 10pm.
Often regarded as a destination for emergency purchases like replacing a broken kettle, the retailer is seeking to position itself more upmarket and to respond to the delivery challenge posed by rivals like Amazon.
"This is the mentality we want to shift, from distress buying to spontaneity," said Munds.
The retailer already does a lot of tactical advertising, serving product-relevant ads based on people's searches and location, but the new campaign "is brand advertising, not just simply product advertising".
"This is about wanting people to know that Argos has great quality products that, if they order before 6pm, they can get the same day. Even if people aren't buying right now, when the penny drops [about same day delivery] it stays in their head," she said.
So far, Munds reported, the campaign is hitting the chosen KPIs which include measures such as "Changing for the better", "Understands customers' needs" and "Likelihood to Shop".
"We talk a lot about same day delivery, but also about same day collection and our different collection points, not just on the high street but also in places you might not expect, such as stations," she added. "That is the behaviour of a modern retailer."
"Argos needs to challenge four-decade held perceptions that it is the catalogue king and transform the brand so that it is universally recognised as a leading digital retailer," declared Rebecca Munds, Planning Partner, CHI & Partners.
In an interview with WARC, she noted that Argos – which began as a pioneer in the catalogue business, before introducing Check and Reserve, and then Click and Collect – "has a reputation for immediacy and it's bringing that into the modern world". (For more details, read WARC's exclusive report: How Argos is modernising for the now generation.)
That's the premise of the brand's current campaign, "80 Days of Argos", which sees 80 ads, each one date-stamped and focused on a particular product, running throughout summer – and each with the promise that if you can order it by 6pm, you can own it by 10pm.
Often regarded as a destination for emergency purchases like replacing a broken kettle, the retailer is seeking to position itself more upmarket and to respond to the delivery challenge posed by rivals like Amazon.
"This is the mentality we want to shift, from distress buying to spontaneity," said Munds.
The retailer already does a lot of tactical advertising, serving product-relevant ads based on people's searches and location, but the new campaign "is brand advertising, not just simply product advertising".
"This is about wanting people to know that Argos has great quality products that, if they order before 6pm, they can get the same day. Even if people aren't buying right now, when the penny drops [about same day delivery] it stays in their head," she said.
So far, Munds reported, the campaign is hitting the chosen KPIs which include measures such as "Changing for the better", "Understands customers' needs" and "Likelihood to Shop".
"We talk a lot about same day delivery, but also about same day collection and our different collection points, not just on the high street but also in places you might not expect, such as stations," she added. "That is the behaviour of a modern retailer."
Data sourced from WARC
