As the new member of the team, I thought I would share with you a new marketing campaign that has caught my eye.
Argos is part of the British establishment, founded in 1972 it has taken a huge leap forward in 2014 with its biggest marketing campaign to date. Now Argos has always been popular, with Bill Bailey describing their catalogue as the “laminated book of dreams”, but they needed to be remembered for more than just tiny pens.
With many bricks and mortar stores falling by the way-side, including its sister company Homebase that announced this month it is accelerating store closures, it was time for Argos to show off its digital transformation.
With a new advert which you would be forgiven for thinking was for John Lewis or an Apple launching, showing between popular programs such as Downton Abbey, they were definitely trying to make an impact. With the wonderful choice of “How you like me now?” by The Heavy’s, it showed a willingness to make fun of their previous image.
A brand doesn’t change the way people view them just with a glossy TV advert, and Argos aren’t going to disappoint. They are also installing vibrant in-store displays, new uniforms, vans, website and print material for Christmas. As well as expanding advertising into cinemas and billboards to highlight the popular brands they stock such as Beats by Dre, a move they’ve not done before.
Argos are a pretty unique proposition on the high street, but with Amazon opening their first physical store in New York to allow consumers to collect and swap products before the holiday season, Argos may find themselves having to compete even harder to gain market share. If these Amazon shops prove successful there is the potential to roll them out across other major cities.
This new marketing campaign has proved Argos are a forward thinking brand looking to protect their business from new competitors and inviting their customers old and new to sit up and take notice.
So I guess to answer their question, “how do you like me now?” I think the answer would have to be, really quite a lot. Have a look for yourself, right here.