In honor of National Thrift Shop Day on August 17, the Savers® family of brands (which includes Savers®, Value Village™ and Village des Valeurs) wanted shoppers to rally around all things secondhand. We knew our shoppers were passionate about thrift, but we wanted to inspire a different, more positive association with thrifting and grow visibility of Savers® as a shopping destination that makes style feel achievable, fun and unique. So, to celebrate this enormous brand moment, we decided to do something… tiny. And thus, the first annual Thriftie Awards were born.
Because we wanted to recognize the possibilities of thrift while also honoring the thrifters who give these amazing finds new life, we introduced a first-of-its-kind award series. The Thriftie Awards recognized the best secondhand shoppers, trendy thrifters and amazing upcyclers from across the U.S. and Canada, with an overall campaign objective of driving social engagement, positive social discussion, media impressions and key message pull-through.
To build brand awareness and improve brand love of Savers®, the team aimed to inspire a new perception of thrifting while positioning Savers® as a shopping destination for one-of-a-kind personal style. We created a social-optimized Thriftie Awards campaign that leveraged relevant trends and real-life objects to spark positive online conversations within target influencer and everyday shopper communities around National Thrift Shop Day. To spread the word, we partnered with key influencers, shipped tiny trophies across countries and engaged our audience through a unique sweepstakes promotion. The month-long series, complete with UGC content and rejoicing recipients, proved… big things really do come in tiny carts.
Owned, earned and influencer content worked together to encourage in-store visits and digital engagement. The integrated strategy focused on:
Brand-Specific and Social Trends:
Social analysis of the Savers® channels revealed a trend in content that resonated positively with audiences: cart hauls and in-store photos. Social content that featured these types of visuals outperformed other types of photo and video content. Drafting off that insight, we structured campaign content to mimic the in-store thrifting experience. We also know that the internet loves tiny things. So, we created custom, miniature, gold-plated shopping carts to serve as a hero element in all campaign assets. We shipped real tiny cart Thriftie Awards to influencers in all of Savers® key markets, spanning Canada and the United States. The impact was immediate. Influencers flooded their social feeds and Instagram Stories with pictures of the adorable carts and their corresponding awards. Their audiences reacted similarly, asking how they could get their own Thriftie Award. All influencer content pointed their communities to the corresponding sweepstakes, housed on Savers® owned channels, where anyone (within the sweepstakes guidelines) could enter to win.
Community-Centric Content:
Instead of a self-serving brand campaign in honor of National Thrift Shop Day, Savers® wanted to recognize and honor our passionate community. Because when it comes to thrifting, Savers® believes that expert shoppers deserve recognition! In advance of National Thrift Shop Day, we identified secondhand-savvy influencers ranging in size of community. For Savers® it was important to not only highlight big names, but also honor up-and-coming voices in the reuse space. For each identified influencer, we created a custom award title. From “Thrift Haul Queen” to “Best Bohemian Style,” influencers received personalized notes that recognized their commitment to sustainable and stylish fashion.
Direct Audience Engagement:
But we didn’t stop at influencers. Throughout the month-long campaign, we hosted a sweepstakes on the Savers® channels, allowing anyone to enter to win their own Thriftie Award. This sparked a slew of submissions where our community shared their personal style, thrifting tips, reasons to love secondhand and more. While only two “ultimate” winners were chosen, we took the time to honor many nominees by creating a UGC video that celebrated our submissions.
The goals of the campaign tactics included driving social engagement, positive social discussion, media impressions, and key message pull-through.
Results included:
Positive Discussion:
Social Engagement:
Media Impressions and Key Message Pull-Through:
