Lowe’s is opening its first stores in Manhattan this summer–and the act of choosing smaller locations that you don’t have to reach by car amounts to “renovating retail strategy” for a chain that is not the place to visit when you need to find a few guys to help you move from one tiny studio to another for super cheap. (That would be Home Depot.)
The client and its AOR BBDO do have some creative ways to increase awareness in Chelsea and on the Upper West Side, which is a good bit different today than it was when Peggy Olson bought an apartment and stabbed her self-important douchebag of a boyfriend in the gut.
In short, they’ve turned the client’s six-second tips Vine series into a window display and promoted it via Twitter’s live video app Periscope.
Here’s the explainer video ICYMI:
This campaign recreated the Vine series #LowesFixInSix as an actual physical object, right down to the “press to like” button and the running loop count.
People are noticing. Vine’s marketing guy, for example, was really into it:
WOW. @Lowes installed live Vines on 6th Ave in Manhattan. They even have loop counts and like buttons #lowesfixinsixpic.twitter.com/zTSq1oqX4b
— @jeremycabo (@jeremycabo) August 3, 2015
So were some other passersby today:
Stumbled upon this on 6th Ave. #lowesfixinsix#lowesnycpic.twitter.com/Cy4mJuuv0V
— Jayne Bussman-Wise (@jaynebwise) August 5, 2015
We also watched the Periscope, which was basically a Lowe’s rep explaining the project and checking it out on street level. A couple of screenshots featuring your gracious host:
…and the window display itself:
Here’s one of the original animated shorts:
Have six seconds to spare? Learn how to keep mosquitoes away the natural way http://t.co/GGxokDMIAl#Vine#LowesFixinSix
— Lowe’s (@Lowes) June 10, 2015
If you have Periscope on your phone, the video will be running for 24 hours.
The key name in this campaign may well be Spaeth Design, which worked with BBDO and the client to design the window displays. They’re the same company famous for creating those ridiculous collages you see when walking by Macy’s, Saks, Tiffany’s and Bloomingdales.
The tips are practical for New York residents and we like the one about hanging your bike, but it doesn’t quite beat our old roommate’s floor-to-ceiling pole, which somehow held three bikes at once. It did leave a pretty gnarly mark on the wood when he got kicked out for failing to pay his rent on time, though.