A once popular clothing chain was increasingly being seen as a discount store. We revamped the brand image and attracted a new generation of consumers.
The Challenge
Aubainerie was already well recognized as a place to dress the whole family at great prices, but the chain wanted to emphasize its fashion positioning and brand personality to establish a better relationship with new and more trend-conscious consumers.
The competitors, including H&M and Joe Fresh,
are 10 to 15 times bigger and have the advertising
budgets to match.
The idea
Not only did we want to find a different and unique approach to advertise their products, but we also strategically decided to focus on shifting the perception of younger consumers who were preventing their parents from shopping for them at Aubainerie because they didn’t find the brand cool enough.
If we could overcome the brand’s negative perception and win teens over, we would get parents to shop at Aubainerie - because after all, who doesn’t like low prices and impressive array of choices?
Banking on fashiontainment
As we needed to showcase Aubainerie’s large product offering in traditional 30s TV formats, we knew we had to find a concept that would feature many models - and because we wanted to surprise the market with a radical twist on typical fashion advertising, we developed a series of campaigns featuring local creative talents, the first of whom used contemporary dance trends like waacking, popping, and voguing.
To launch this initiative and kick off our first open casting call to recruit local talents in a buzzworthy manner, we decided to partner with Quebec’s coolest dance kids - DM Nation. Our collaboration led us to finding a strong cast and crafting an amazing choreography.
Each season brought a new iteration of the campaign featuring newly discovered talent (teens and kids scouted through live casting sessions in our in-house studio) and custom music, in a setting that is graphically fresh, reflecting the trends of the day. The campaigns include TV spots, print, and out-of-home media. Soon enough, people were looking forward to Aubainerie’s new spots.
Retail design
Designing a more homey
shopping experience
Infusing warmth and personality into big box stores
In parallel, we’ve been imagining how we can make these 30,000 sq. ft. megastores feel more like home for the families visiting them. Our scalable vision included many different elements that franchises could integrate in various areas as they slowly renovated.
Events
When asked to advertise the refreshed stores locally, we came up with a clever way to promote them, while bringing the brand's new energy to the street.
We thought this was a great opportunity to connect with people on a deeper level and leave a lasting impression. We launched what would become a series of fan castings. These are currently travelling the province to each new store reopening and giving kids and teens an opportunity to showcase their talent in front of a panel - featuring none other than DM Nation - for a chance to be part of our campaigns. Our very first event in Saint-Bruno attracted a thousand people to the store (a 78% increase) and generated a 20% jump in sales. More importantly, families left the event excited and rewarded.
The Results
Since introducing the new advertising platform, each campaign has built on results that have given Aubainerie’s competitors a real run for their money.
