Your typical everyday guy hates to shop. Moores knows it, which is why the Toronto-based men’s wear retailer has launched a new campaign playing on the kind of triggers that actually force a guy into a store in the first place.
The first three spots debuted last month, and the next grouping will likely appear in August, according to president Dave Starrett, who says eight ads were shot in all and that the media spend totals approximately $15 million.
He believes the retailer is now back on track, after an off-strategy 12-month-long campaign by San Francisco-based agency Red Ball Tiger, that launched in spring 2000. ‘Really it was too high class – it looked more like Harry Rosen,’ says Starrett of one particular spot called ‘Garden Party.’ ‘Whether coincidence or not, our business did start to decline.’
With the help of its new AOR, Toronto-based John St., Moores refamiliarized itself with its target through focus group research. ‘He’s an average guy on the street, with a house and a mortgage, two kids and a dog,’ says Starrett. ‘He also has a great sense of humour, and he doesn’t like to shop, but he likes to look good.’
That in mind, the retailer set out to learn what would impel a guy to step into one of its locations. Several triggers stood out: weight gain, an out-of-date garment, or the need to minimize wrinkles (since many of these guys are traveling salesmen and spend a lot of time in their vehicles).
Thus one of the commercials features a bloke bending down to pick up a set of keys only to hear a threatening rip; another shows a groom at his wedding in a powder-blue tux; and a third has a man climbing out of luggage, his suit looking miraculously unrumpled. All of the spots have a comical tone.
The campaign will keep the tagline ‘Well-dressed. Well-priced. Well-made,’ which launched in 1999 and continues to perform well, according to Starrett.
Client: Moores
Agency: John St
Production: Industry films
Director: Phil Brown
Director of photography: John Houtman
Producer: Trudy Turner
Post: School/Crush
Editor: Johnny D.
