2021 Winner
BronzeBest in Brand Integration
Hudson's Bay Company
"HBC x Animal Crossing"
Cossette Media
"HBC x Animal Crossing"
Cossette Media
As a heritage brand, HBC saw a need to modernize their customer strategy and repair outdated views of the brand by reaching a new demographic of customers: millennial and Gen Z shoppers. But when COVID-19 hit, it impacted not only the highly-competitive retail environment but consumer habits for these hard to reach audiences.
In order to increase market share for these shoppers and win over the competition, they needed to build an authentic connection with this audience, and fast. With this business problem in mind, they put together a proactive and innovative opportunity to insert HBC into a cultural moment for this new target within an emerging digital community.
COVID had supercharged the gaming industry significantly, consumption was up and new titles were continuing to emerge. One of those titles was Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s a simulation video game that lets players live out an alternate life on a pleasant island populated by quirky animal villagers. That’s right, a video game. Turns out, gaming is not just for nerds anymore, with over 11 million copies of the game selling within the first week of launch. They knew Animal Crossing was on its way to becoming a top global destination for fashion creation and discovery.
When it came to bringing this to life, they knew they needed to focus on an identifiable aspect of the brand that immediately linked their audience back to Hudson’s Bay. They wanted to ensure they showcased the breadth and assortment that Hudson’s Bay offers, whilst not misplacing brand recognition to some of the brands carried. So, they decided to focus on the famous
Hudson Bay stripes.
Within one week, they pitched, executed, and launched their HBC Stripes Animal Crossing integration. They focused on two key areas: fashion/apparel and home, custom building various items of clothing and furniture within the game to give players a truly Canadian fashion and decor experience.
All the designs were sharable, so players could download them for free to outfit their avatars and island homes. The designs were circulated across HBC’s social channels, featuring both the downloadable game codes and shoppable links for all the items. The links drove directly to product pages on thebay.com so players could match their avatar IRL. Since customizing items in the game is free, and does not require approvals from Nintendo, they were able to turn around the campaign quickly and for zero dollars. They used the world of Animal Crossing to drive awareness and relevance of HBC as a digital retailer for millennials and Gen Zs.
While Nintendo doesn’t share data from in-game integrations (yet), this initiative blew engagement rates with the brand out of the water. Across HBC’s social channels, this single organic post amassed nearly 200K impressions and 12K engagements. This resulted in a 165% increase in engagement rate, making it one of the top posts of the year. The designs were a hit on the earned media cycle, with coverage reaching over 100,000 Canadians in trade publications, industry blogs, and on fashion & culture sites such as Fashion Magazine.
The largest indicator of effectiveness was the cultural impact of the initiative, with countless Canadians downloading, using, and then sharing their own HBC striped Animal Crossing creations. They were able to capitalize on the height of the game buzz and become the first ever Canadian brand to activate on the platform, no budget or brief required.
In order to increase market share for these shoppers and win over the competition, they needed to build an authentic connection with this audience, and fast. With this business problem in mind, they put together a proactive and innovative opportunity to insert HBC into a cultural moment for this new target within an emerging digital community.
COVID had supercharged the gaming industry significantly, consumption was up and new titles were continuing to emerge. One of those titles was Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s a simulation video game that lets players live out an alternate life on a pleasant island populated by quirky animal villagers. That’s right, a video game. Turns out, gaming is not just for nerds anymore, with over 11 million copies of the game selling within the first week of launch. They knew Animal Crossing was on its way to becoming a top global destination for fashion creation and discovery.
When it came to bringing this to life, they knew they needed to focus on an identifiable aspect of the brand that immediately linked their audience back to Hudson’s Bay. They wanted to ensure they showcased the breadth and assortment that Hudson’s Bay offers, whilst not misplacing brand recognition to some of the brands carried. So, they decided to focus on the famous
Hudson Bay stripes.
Within one week, they pitched, executed, and launched their HBC Stripes Animal Crossing integration. They focused on two key areas: fashion/apparel and home, custom building various items of clothing and furniture within the game to give players a truly Canadian fashion and decor experience.
All the designs were sharable, so players could download them for free to outfit their avatars and island homes. The designs were circulated across HBC’s social channels, featuring both the downloadable game codes and shoppable links for all the items. The links drove directly to product pages on thebay.com so players could match their avatar IRL. Since customizing items in the game is free, and does not require approvals from Nintendo, they were able to turn around the campaign quickly and for zero dollars. They used the world of Animal Crossing to drive awareness and relevance of HBC as a digital retailer for millennials and Gen Zs.
While Nintendo doesn’t share data from in-game integrations (yet), this initiative blew engagement rates with the brand out of the water. Across HBC’s social channels, this single organic post amassed nearly 200K impressions and 12K engagements. This resulted in a 165% increase in engagement rate, making it one of the top posts of the year. The designs were a hit on the earned media cycle, with coverage reaching over 100,000 Canadians in trade publications, industry blogs, and on fashion & culture sites such as Fashion Magazine.
The largest indicator of effectiveness was the cultural impact of the initiative, with countless Canadians downloading, using, and then sharing their own HBC striped Animal Crossing creations. They were able to capitalize on the height of the game buzz and become the first ever Canadian brand to activate on the platform, no budget or brief required.
Credits
Key execution team members on the project:Alessia Grosso, Strategy Director at Cossette Media
Brenda Zhou, Social Media Specialist at Hudson's Bay
Michael Furman, Ad Operations Specialist at Hudson’s Bay
Assisted by and overseen by:
Connor George, Social Media Manager at Hudson's Bay
Leslie Blachford, DVP Social Media & Targeted Media
Sasha Chumber, Director, Digital Marketing and Media at Hudson's Bay
Jorge Carrasqueiro DVP, Customer Loyalty & Partnerships
Meghan Nameth, SVP, Marketing at Hudson's Bay
Wes Wolch, Chief Strategy Officer at Cossette Media
Creative direction for Hudson's Bay
Ryan Booth, RSG, Director of Design for Hudson's Bay
Siofan Davies, Director of Copy & Brand for Hudson's Bay
Ashley Major, Copywriter for Hudson’s Bay
Daniel Koppenol, Vice President, Creative Director for Hudson's Bay
Additional help from Cossette Media staff
Beth Thomson
Charlaine St-Amant
Jessica Mathers
Hudson's Bay Communications and PR
Michelle Veilleux,Director, Hudson’s Bay Foundation
Lauren Polyak, Manager, PR
Tiffany Bourre, DVP Communications and Heritage"