Best Retailtainment Event

Program Name: Fragrance Gallery
Client: SC Johnson
Agency: OgilvyAction

What better way to appeal to today’s image-conscious fashionista than by appealing to her sense of style—and smell. Like a high-end boutique, The Fragrance Gallery by Glade entertained and engaged this fashion-savvy woman in an elegant, sophisticated and simple way that encouraged her to interact with the fragrances. She got to hold them, smell them and see their boutique quality. She learned about the fragrances and indulged in their luxurious details. And in the end, went to the “air care” aisle to purchase them. Talk about a short trip from the event to the cash register!

Designed to appeal to women ages 25 to 49 with $70,000 or more in annual income who are heavy air freshener users, the experience offered on-trend fragrances in new shapes and packaging that they are looking for. These women love sneaking in their little escapes, like shopping for boutique fragrances, but lack the time and money to do it as often as they like. However, it is important for them to find time to indulge in simple luxuries that give them a mini-retreat from their hectic, everyday life.

Taking a cue from The Fragrance Collection by Glade’s modern, artistic packaging, the product was displayed as if it were in an art gallery. The boutique experience’s delightful details and luxurious, quality products invited the women to indulge in a little luxury at a fraction of the cost. In stores, an eight-foot by eight-foot backdrop provided framed fragrance cues for the four core fragrances: currants and acai, sheer white cotton, jasmine and wild orchid and lotus bamboo. Two pedestals each displaying two fragrances were wrapped in their signature colors.

Fashionista-styled brand ambassadors dressed in black clothing from their own closets and wearing a fragrance-inspired scarf and TFCbG silver pin invited shoppers to discover their favorite fragrance.

Three products per fragrance, a 10-ounce multi-wick candle, a two-ounce candle and a reed diffuser, were presented under domes for a pure, unadulterated scent experience. Between the two scents on the pedestal, a votive filled with coffee beans cleansed the palate between scents and offered a nod to the experience consumers expect in a boutique environment. After selecting their favorite, consumers received a coupon sleeve and were directed to the aisle to find the fragrance. The $3 coupon was often redeemed that day.

The results smelled pretty good, too: The Fragrance Collection by Glade saw increased brand awareness, brand loyalty and purchase as women learned about the product and enjoyed the experience.

Program Name: Back to College
Client: Target
Agency: Periscope

Building a relationship with future consumers during meaningful times in their lives can hook them for good. Target did just that with its Back to College campaign, which not only drove sales, but also strengthened its connection to first-year college students.

New to the program in 2009, Target added beauty and fashion stations manned by celebrity designers and stylists who provided the latest trends and tips for students. DJ Hero and Guitar Hero gaming stations were also added as well as a tailgate party that greeted students with music, food and games as they arrived. But the experience began way before students stepped foot inside Target stores—they received save-the-dates by brand ambassadors during orientation promoting Target’s exclusive extended hours and providing them with free roundtrip bus transportation. On each campus the brand also created a teaser experience to give students a taste of what was to come with games, live music and Coke Zero samples. The message also spread on Facebook and included a text-to-win prize offer for an Xbox 360 and other prizes.

More than 70,000 students attended the shopping events, doubling its 2008 turnout. The stores also saw an average six percent sales increase. Now that’s on target! 

Program Name: Health Across America
Client: Health Mart Pharmacy
Agency: emg3

Health Mart Pharmacy, a national franchise network of more than 2,500 independent pharmacies operated by McKesson Corporation, teamed up with a variety of sponsors, including Bayer Diabetes Care, to create brand awareness while educating communities about diabetes care on the Health Across America tour.

The program engaged existing as well as new customers in both b-to-c and b-to-b areas. In each case, diabetes care was the unifying theme with an emphasis on engaging and identifying “at risk” consumers who could benefit from long-term patron and pharmacy relationships.

The central piece of the nine-month tour was a custom-fabricated mobile health vehicle divided into four screening stations staffed by a traveling team of medical professionals who offered free health screenings (including glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol) primarily in pharmacy parking lots, but also at local festivals and senior centers. Traditional p.r. efforts, like flyers in mailboxes, as well as social media promoted the stops.

The tour provided more than 11,000 free screenings and served as an effective platform for engaging new customers–50 percent of participants were new customers.