High Road is proud to announce that the campaign they assisted with for the rebranding of Mark’s Work Wearhouse has won one of company’s most prestigious internal awards – the IWO award.

The IWO Awards are Mark’s annual award ceremonies celebrating the company’s core values of Continuous Improvement, Product Integrity and Respect for People.  Through a nomination process, hundreds of examples of Mark’s values are submitted and from that list a select group of finalists are chosen whose performances and behaviours most closely represent the company’s values. This year, in the category of Product Integrity the campaign won due to the success they achieved in leading one of the most notable improvements ever at Mark’s – revamping the overall brand and bringing customers a better, fresher shopping experience.

Heavy duty boots, rugged construction gear, plaid flannel…these are no doubt the first things that spring to mind when one thinks of Canadian clothing retailer Mark’s Work Wearhouse. And while having a well-established brand in the Canadian fashion landscape is indeed admirable, it was these pre-ingrained notions that the company sought to get past with the launch of an ambitious rebranding campaign. While still focused on developing the most innovative clothes on the market, Mark’s sought to broaden its appeal beyond its core demographic, putting a renewed emphasis on fashion forward apparel. 

Tasked with launching renewed stores in Ottawa, Edmonton and Winnipeg that put a greater emphasis on customer experience, High Road had to convey to the media and public Mark’s fresh new brand; a brand no longer focused on simply providing industrial clients with rugged work clothes, but rather, on providing all Canadians with a wider variety of smart, stylish clothes for everyday living.  

Holding three events in three cities simultaneously (a first in High Road history) High Road invited fashion, lifestyle and business journalists for a tour of the newly launched stores where they could view the chain’s fashionable business and casual wear and experience some of the more unique in-store innovations, including custom-made walk-in freezers where customers could see how Mark’s winter clothing stood up to minus 50 C weather and interactive test ramps where customers could test how Mark’s footwear fared on different surfaces, like rooftop shingles or gravel.

Following the tour, journalists were whisked away for their own mini-makeover or what we like to call, a Mark’s Over. With a ‘Before’ photo taken by a professional photographer, the journalists were taken to an area of the store where professional make-up artists and hair stylists could primp while a fashion stylist worked with the journalist to pick out items for their new and improved look. Emerging from the dressing room fully styled in their new Mark’s clothes each journalist had their ‘After’ photo taken to document the transformation.

By giving attendees the opportunity to try on clothes and receive a mini makeover High Road helped to communicate Mark’s rebrand message to an audience that wasn’t overly familiar with Mark’s. With such personalized attention it’s no surprise that the feedback came back overwhelmingly positive.

Post-launch the praise for reMark’s has been equally impressive, not only did the initiative win one of the company’s most prestigious internal awards, but Strategy magazine named Mark’s one of their ‘Brands of the Year’ due to the innovative, out-of-the-box campaign. With such high profile accolades and growing numbers of Canadians beginning to take notice, it’s clear that Mark’s is one of Canada’s most up and coming fashion retailers.   

Congratulations, Mark’s!

Today, social media is a buzz word to many brands, but to the Gatorade team at High Road it’s our way of life. A successful social media program is proactive, highly engaging and integrated. Without these elements, a brand can fall flat online.

Using a number of social channels including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube , the Gatorade team at PepsiCo challenged High Road to create a robust and highly engaged online community that was closely connected to and invested in ongoing dialogue with the Gatorade brand.

Our approach to this project reflects some of the key learnings and best practices that we apply to all our social media campaigns:

Be Proactive

Timely and ongoing interaction is how brands build deeper relationships with their audience and keep online communities wanting more. To ensure ongoing engagement, High Road develops daily triage programs to proactively monitor and identify opportunities and breaking news that we can amplify across the brand communities.

Using social media tools including Sysomos and Radian6, we define a set of keywords and refine search teams relevant to the brand and audience. Every day, we prioritize the hottest news, info and rich media to post on Facebook and Twitter.  

Based on these results and understanding of relevant events, we also deliver a weekly editorial calendar of scheduled content for the week ahead.

We’re Engaged!

A regular posting schedule is the first step to increasing community engagement online.  The second, and more important factor, is the quality of content. To create an exclusive and exciting experience for Fans and Followers, we regularly focus on amplifying the unique opportunities that every brand brings to the table. For example, we recently covered a photo shoot for Gatorade Canada with MMA world champ Georges St. Pierre by posing a question to our Facebook and Twitter fans:  “If you had one question for GSP, what would it be?” The response was incredible:

One lucky Tweep had her question chosen and GSP responded via video. Asking fans to participate in the conversation is great for engagement levels (having a Canadian MMA hero help out didn’t hurt either) and it positions your brand as a gateway to a special experience.

Don’t Hate, Integrate

A social media strategy is most powerful when it runs seamlessly across all marketing communications initiatives.  An ongoing element of a successful social media strategy is working closely with other agency partners to ensure all marketing initiatives either include or are amplified by social media.

Each step of the way, we are cross pollinating updates on all social media channels, increasing brand visibility and thought leadership online.

Tried, Tested, True

The only way to become a social media star and understand what really resonates with an online community is to measure response and engagement to content and continue to iterate based on these results. We develop detailed reports that highlight insights into social media “wins,” opportunities and benchmarks for future success.

Developing a strong and engaging social media strategy isn’t rocket science, but it does require attention and commitment.  Come join the Gatorade Canada conversation on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube!

As always, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas was a true spectacle of innovation, style and performance, attracting thousands of the sharpest minds and key influencers in the consumer technology industry. High Road has long been well represented at the convention and 2011 was no exception, with a full High Road team helping LG Electronics Canada “geek out” both in real time and online.

Things got under way on Monday, January 3. It was the first full day back from the holiday break and High Road already had a team on the ground in Las Vegas, laying the groundwork for a series of a videos slated to appear on LG Canada’s YouTube channel later in the week. The videos featured Frank Lee from LG Canada, provided consumers worldwide with early looks at LG’s incredible technological offerings for 2011, including its game changing LG Smart TV series, featuring an unprecedented series of viewing options and a full range of new digital appliances, enabled by LG THINQ technology.

Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/LGteamCanada to check out all of LG Canada’s videos from CES 2011.

If producing a few dozen videos isn’t enough, the High Road team also found the time to book over 20 media with booth tours on the floor at CES, providing CanWest Media, the Discovery Channel and other top outlets with a Canadian perspective on the latest gadgets and gear. Plus, a dozen of Canada’s top mobility bloggers enjoyed an exclusive preview event at the ever popular TAO restaurant and nightclub, showcasing the latest additions to LG’s Optimus series of smartphones.

By the amount of widespread coverage already generated by Canadian media, bloggers and influencers, High Road and LG Canada are out to provide that whatever happens in Vegas, doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas… at least where smart, stylish consumer electronics are concerned.