2024 Winner
SilverBest Use of Local Media
Home Hardware
"Local-AI-zation"
Spark Foundry
"Local-AI-zation"
Spark Foundry
With 61% of Canadians planning home and garden activities based on the weather, Home Hardware Stores Limited’s objective was to increase reach and relevance and increase store foot traffic to the more than 1,000 Canadian locations during their peak retail period.
Home Hardware Stores Limited also needed a focus on localization to increase Dealer-Owner sentiment for marketing strategies. The campaign objectives and unique localization challenge required a unique solution – leveraging emerging Ai technology to deliver localized ads within a national campaign, affordably and at scale.
The Weather Network’s reach into thousands of communities was leveraged with sponsorship of the national Summer Forecast, ensuring Home Hardware’s messaging reached across Canada. A strategy was developed to ensure hyper-local connection with every Ontario community served by a Home Hardware or Building Centre location. 422 Ai-generated location-specific ads were developed showcasing storefronts with local callouts for Ontario stores and featuring a summer forecast and call to action by The Weather Network’s Rachel Schoutsen’s Ai-Assisted Avatar.
With 63% of Canadians believing local media helps make them aware of products and services available in their community, strong local reach was a priority. Location-based audience segmentation ensured the Ai-generated location-specific ads were shown in communities served by Home Hardware stores despite the provincial media buying approach – a truly local approach within
a national campaign!
Their target audience were Canadians in close proximity to Home Hardware and Building Centre locations and their strategy was to innovatively use emerging Ai technology to deliver hyper-local connection between Home Hardware stores and their communities, increasing store traffic.
The solution was to position Home Hardware and Building Centre locations as the go-to local destination for summer DIY projects through an impactful national program with hyper-local capabilities targeted to Ontario stores.
Aligning with Home Hardware Stores limited’s objectives, a multi-platform approach was chosen.
Four-week campaign across The Weather Network and MétéoMédia on broadcast, CTV, social, and digital (app and web), as well as an Apple News sponsorship and additional locations via Pelmorex Audience to reach Canadians across the country.
The campaign launched with the Summer Forecast sponsorship and full day takeovers on linear TV, mobile app, mobile web, tablet and desktop web and there was 422 hyper-local Ai generated videos served to custom Ontario audience segments.
The Regional Summer Forecast was broadcast on linear TV, CTV, and FAST platforms, delivering national content with localized precision. As part of this initiative, Home Hardware Stores limited, The Weather Network, and their agency undertook the unprecedented task of developing 422 location-specific AI-generated video ads for local distribution within just one month.
This ambitious project was made possible through strong teamwork and effective communication. Given the ethical considerations surrounding AI, the development process adhered to The Weather Network’s comprehensive AI technology ethical guidelines, with each video including a disclaimer to inform viewers that the content was AI-generated. A rigorous quality control process ensured accurate pronunciation of all store names, reinforcing the critical hyper-local connection between each
store and its community.
“local-AI-zation” also featured many firsts, including using AI to deliver 422 hyper-local ads targeted at individual communities (suburban and rural), featuring an avatar of The Weather Network personality Rachel Schoutsen, highlighting individual stores at scale in a national campaign, and a new CTV Splash Screen that appeared when the channel opened.
The campaign also utilized traditional mediums to reach provincial audiences in unique ways, with Ai generated videos run on linear TV and successfully delivered a 105% increase in impressions compared to last year.
It drove higher store visits for Home Hardware Stores limited with a 10% reduction in spend and delivering strong media results with143,919 ad exposed visits and 27.44% store visitation lift from the Ai generated videos, exceeding 8.6% average retail lift (Dec 2023).
There were over 23.4 million digital impressions, over achieving estimates by 61%, 0.41% overall CTR on custom Ai video units, with CTRs in rural communities outperforming many city locations and 8.7 million total broadcast audience watched this first to market execution in their local market, slightly over achieving estimates.
The campaign received over 1.7 million total impressions on social media, over achieving estimates by 53% and a positive dealer-owner sentiment: “I’m thrilled that Home Hardware was a part of this groundbreaking campaign! The technology’s impressively advanced, and the localized messaging has enabled us to connect with customers on a profoundly meaningful level with impactful results and enthusiastic feedback.”
“It’s clear that this AI-driven approach will set a new standard in our industry.” Brad Swanson – Dealer-Owner, Swanson's Home Hardware Building Centre and Glenbriar Home Hardware
Home Hardware Stores Limited also needed a focus on localization to increase Dealer-Owner sentiment for marketing strategies. The campaign objectives and unique localization challenge required a unique solution – leveraging emerging Ai technology to deliver localized ads within a national campaign, affordably and at scale.
The Weather Network’s reach into thousands of communities was leveraged with sponsorship of the national Summer Forecast, ensuring Home Hardware’s messaging reached across Canada. A strategy was developed to ensure hyper-local connection with every Ontario community served by a Home Hardware or Building Centre location. 422 Ai-generated location-specific ads were developed showcasing storefronts with local callouts for Ontario stores and featuring a summer forecast and call to action by The Weather Network’s Rachel Schoutsen’s Ai-Assisted Avatar.
With 63% of Canadians believing local media helps make them aware of products and services available in their community, strong local reach was a priority. Location-based audience segmentation ensured the Ai-generated location-specific ads were shown in communities served by Home Hardware stores despite the provincial media buying approach – a truly local approach within
a national campaign!
Their target audience were Canadians in close proximity to Home Hardware and Building Centre locations and their strategy was to innovatively use emerging Ai technology to deliver hyper-local connection between Home Hardware stores and their communities, increasing store traffic.
The solution was to position Home Hardware and Building Centre locations as the go-to local destination for summer DIY projects through an impactful national program with hyper-local capabilities targeted to Ontario stores.
Aligning with Home Hardware Stores limited’s objectives, a multi-platform approach was chosen.
Four-week campaign across The Weather Network and MétéoMédia on broadcast, CTV, social, and digital (app and web), as well as an Apple News sponsorship and additional locations via Pelmorex Audience to reach Canadians across the country.
The campaign launched with the Summer Forecast sponsorship and full day takeovers on linear TV, mobile app, mobile web, tablet and desktop web and there was 422 hyper-local Ai generated videos served to custom Ontario audience segments.
The Regional Summer Forecast was broadcast on linear TV, CTV, and FAST platforms, delivering national content with localized precision. As part of this initiative, Home Hardware Stores limited, The Weather Network, and their agency undertook the unprecedented task of developing 422 location-specific AI-generated video ads for local distribution within just one month.
This ambitious project was made possible through strong teamwork and effective communication. Given the ethical considerations surrounding AI, the development process adhered to The Weather Network’s comprehensive AI technology ethical guidelines, with each video including a disclaimer to inform viewers that the content was AI-generated. A rigorous quality control process ensured accurate pronunciation of all store names, reinforcing the critical hyper-local connection between each
store and its community.
“local-AI-zation” also featured many firsts, including using AI to deliver 422 hyper-local ads targeted at individual communities (suburban and rural), featuring an avatar of The Weather Network personality Rachel Schoutsen, highlighting individual stores at scale in a national campaign, and a new CTV Splash Screen that appeared when the channel opened.
The campaign also utilized traditional mediums to reach provincial audiences in unique ways, with Ai generated videos run on linear TV and successfully delivered a 105% increase in impressions compared to last year.
It drove higher store visits for Home Hardware Stores limited with a 10% reduction in spend and delivering strong media results with143,919 ad exposed visits and 27.44% store visitation lift from the Ai generated videos, exceeding 8.6% average retail lift (Dec 2023).
There were over 23.4 million digital impressions, over achieving estimates by 61%, 0.41% overall CTR on custom Ai video units, with CTRs in rural communities outperforming many city locations and 8.7 million total broadcast audience watched this first to market execution in their local market, slightly over achieving estimates.
The campaign received over 1.7 million total impressions on social media, over achieving estimates by 53% and a positive dealer-owner sentiment: “I’m thrilled that Home Hardware was a part of this groundbreaking campaign! The technology’s impressively advanced, and the localized messaging has enabled us to connect with customers on a profoundly meaningful level with impactful results and enthusiastic feedback.”
“It’s clear that this AI-driven approach will set a new standard in our industry.” Brad Swanson – Dealer-Owner, Swanson's Home Hardware Building Centre and Glenbriar Home Hardware
Credits
Home Hardware Stores LimitedLaura Baker - Chief Marketing Officer
Chris Parsons - Senior Director, Omni-Channel Marketing & Strategic Insights
Robert Allan - Director, Paid Media
Kim McClennan - Manager, Media
Ron Mugford - Creative Manager
Casey Peters - Marketing Coordinator-Brand
Media Agency: Spark Foundry
Maria Castellanos - Media Planner
Musavvir Malek - Assistant Media Planner
Melissa Champagne - VP, Media Planning
Media Partner: Pelmorex (The Weather Network)
Simon Jennings - Chief Revenue Officer
Tami Coughlan - Head of Sales & Operations
Carolyn Sixsmith - Sales Leader
Caitlin Wakefield - Client Partner
Peter Bozinov - Director, Multi-platform Video & Editorial
Patricia Bosch - Director, Marketing
Karen Kheder - Director, Communications and Administration
Kiko Grusecki - Director, Media Engineering & Technical Operations
Jim Saini - Director, GIS Services & Profiling
Lina Truong - Sponsorship Manager
Alessandra Vigario - Senior Program Manager
Jennifer Stewart - Team Lead, Account Manager
Jenny Rodrigues - Content Strategy Manager
Candy Lam - Manager, GIS Services
Dr. Doug Gillham - Manager, Forecast Centre
Michael Carter - Meteorology Manager
Rachel Schoutsen - Content Creator - In Studio & Video Journalist
Rachel Modestino - Video Meteorologist
David Hodge - Videographer
April Walker - Video Specialist
Kyle McConnell - Video Editor
Michelyne Paquin - Video Editor
Chelsea Eisenkirch - Video Editor
Zoran Skrba - Manager, Ad Technology
Ryan Rozema - Lead Creative Developer
Peter Copat - Graphic Designer
Tahir Ahmetovic - Ad Operations Coordinator, Digital
Forat Abdulahad - Media Engineer
Juan Diaz - Full Stack Developer, Automated Products
Melissa Faye - General Counsel