Who: Giant Tiger and Huge with UM for media, Radke for production (Jono Holmes, director) and Studio Feather for post.
What: A holiday campaign that extends the brand’s “See yourself saving” platform into the Christmas shopping season.
When & Where: The campaign launched last week and will run up to Christmas. It’s anchored by a 30-second TV spot and extended to social (more below), with a contest running until Dec. 17 on GiantTiger.com.
Why: The discount retailer is expanding quickly, and has taken a more ambitious approach to marketing that included hiring Huge earlier this year. The “See yourself saving” campaign launched in October, featuring relatable shopper characters—exaggerated for comedic effect—saving money on items from Giant Tiger so that consumers can see themselves (or someone they know) saving money at its stores.
For Christmas, they decided to take that concept, push the humour a bit and amplify it across social. “They want people to feel proud of shopping at Giant Tiger and that is the strategic underpinning through it all,” said Allen Oke, Huge executive creative director. “We are doing that, though we are being a little more fun with it.”
How: The TV spot features three quirky characters at a Christmas party. “During a time full of typical family archetypes and emotionally charged advertisements, we chose to go with a lighthearted, humorous and relatable approach,” said Cindy-Lynn Steele, SVP strategy and marketing, in a release.
At the one-day shoot, the agency and production team grabbed lots of extra footage, said Oke. “We had really great characters so it made it easy to have a ton of content beyond a 30-second commercial.”
That content was used to create social posts (static memes and gifs) that are being posted to Giant Tiger’s Facebook and Instagram feeds, encouraging interaction by using polling tools and coming up with humorous copy that can be shareable during the holidays.
Giant Tiger has a very engaged following on social, so it is posting there organically to gauge reaction. There will be a possible paid social push for content that performs well, said Oke.
From the client: “We really wanted to position Giant Tiger as a place where you could get everything you needed for the holidays. By showing a wide cast of characters, we were able to demonstrate just how well equipped Giant Tiger was for the holiday season.” —Cindy-Lynn Steele, SVP strategy and marketing.
