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July 28, 2003 - Strategy Magazine
Regular Features

Campaign Spotlight
Shopaholics unite

by Kristen Vinakmens
page 3

It's no surprise that women love to shop, and, here's a shocker, sometimes they lie about their shopping habits to their spouses. Parallel Strategies plays on this behaviour in a new campaign for Calgary's newly renovated Northland Village Mall.

Using the tagline "We won't tell," the transit creative shows a series of filled-to-the-brim shopping bags in various hiding places, such as under a bed or inside a closet. Says Parallel CD Joe Hospodarec, "It's a celebration of the shopaholic and retailer relationship."

The campaign launched mid-June and is the first major branding effort for the mall in two years. It was created to spur excitement for Northland, which recently added big box stores such as Home Outfitters and Fabricland.

The campaign targets women 25 to 64, says Northland marketing manager Mandy Morrison, since women tend to do most of the family shopping, and of course, a little more for themselves. Adds Hospodarec, "It was time to get our mostly 'mom' target market to start thinking about the mall again." He says that the new stores aren't mentioned in the ads themselves; since they appear on the side of buses, people don't have a lot of time to read lengthy copy.

Morrison says it's tough to gauge how the campaign has gone over with customers, but she says tenants have reacted favourably, and there has also been an increase in mall traffic since the new stores opened.

The mall is also displaying dozens of shopping bags in available space, accompanied by the sign "We won't tell."

Client: Northland Village Mall

Agency: Parallel Strategies

Creative Director: Joe Hospodarec

Copywriters: Kurt Beaudoin, Scott Luit

Art Directors: Scott Luit, Leah Gray

Photographer: Jared Sych

Studio Production: Mark Lovely

Account Director: Rosanne Goetz

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