Metro’s transformation comes timely as new consumer habits shape the future of retail.
One of our biggest client wins in 2021 is the Metro Retail Stores Group, or The Metro Stores as it is known to customers. The retail giant from Cebu has been a companion to many Filipino families for over four decades through Metro Supermarket and Metro Department Store. Our partnership was enkindled by Metro’s desire to become more present in the digital space, especially at a time when technology has vastly influenced the operations of the retail industry.
Our current work with Metro spans all of its in-store and online campaigns and all began with the brand’s new positioning: We Make Life Easy. As a public relations and communication agency focused on storytelling, #TeamStoryscope got to the heart of the brand to identify its core customer benefit: making life easy for Filipinos, through an efficient in-store and online shopping experience built on product affordability, assortment, and accessibility.
To launch this new positioning, we aimed to: (a) convey the brand positioning through content in all channels; (b) update the brand’s visual look and explore new content formats; (c) engage in digital ads and influencer marketing.
These objectives guided our 2021 Metro campaigns and helped refresh and boost the brand as it strengthened its presence in the digital space. E-commerce was a focal push for Metro and thus became a key promotion in all of our projects.
Retail campaigns come in waves especially during the fourth quarter of the year, a time when the public have more purchasing power. 2021 was also a unique period, with lifted pandemic restrictions encouraging the market to do more shopping attributed to ‘revenge spending’. To make sure that we distinguish one Metro campaign from the next as well as with other ongoing promos from other brands, we crafted a specific messaging for each of these Q4 campaigns: Sidewalk Sale, 39th Anniversary Sale, Crazy Sale, Christmas Baskets, and Holiday Rush. Each campaign’s message highlighted the main offers, as well as banner products that will be most enticing to customers.
We then translated the messaging using a 360° communication approach, employing various customer touchpoints to ensure that we are getting the messages out to the right people, at the right time. This involved utilizing the paid, owned, and earned a mix of digital advertising, influencer engagement, product seeding, organic social media content, in-store promotions, and PR articles.
A solid case for this approach is the 39th Anniversary Blowout, one of the first that we handled for Metro. We hyped the P39 deals to reel customers in, and followed them with a salvo of all the exciting offers they can enjoy during the month-long sale: Buy 1 Take 1 offers, gifts with every purchase, and even a chance to win a brand new car and 5,000-worth of groceries.
We ran digital ads on Facebook, Instagram, and the Google Display Network to get people to shop primarily online, given the brand’s strong e-commerce push. This is in tandem with organic posts on Metro’s social media pages.
We also sent a press release to major media outlets to give customers a better idea of all that’s in store for the event. We also partnered with media to produce advertorials for specialized content showing featured products and more.
Finally, we also worked with KOLs whose platforms helped us reach our main target audience: moms and young female breadwinners who are always on the search for the best deals for their families. These KOLs or influencers were mostly from the mom segment, a group that our audience can most identify with.
Overall, our 2021 campaigns for Metro helped propel the brand’s charge to novel ways of marketing, while supporting the fulfillment of each campaign’s business objectives. Through the reach and engagement we secured in our marketing initiatives, we put the brand in the consciousness of the buying public and encouraged them to check out the offers, buy, and establish a new affinity to the brand that makes their lives easy.
As proof of our effective strategy in the 360° marketing domain, Storyscope delivered triple-digit growth in new users reached and page growth for Metro’s Facebook page, and more than 80% increase in users reached and content interactions on Instagram in 2021 alone. Additionally, the last three months of the year already saw our team deliver over P23 million in media values for Metro Department Store and Metro Supermarket, giving us a strong start in our partnership with The Metro Stores.
Today we press on with even more exciting ideas, executions, and collaboration with the brand. To see our work, visit The Metro Stores pages on Facebook and Instagram.
What we did:
Multiple Campaign Development
Brand and Visual Identity
PR Seeding & Advertorials
Influencer Engagement
Product Seeding
Social Media Strategy, Content, and Management
Digital Ad Strategy
