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Chur bro! The Warehouse launches a uniquely Kiwi Scrabble edition

The Warehouse has launched a ‘Sweet As’ campaign with familiar Kiwi legends for the new Scrabble edition, via DDB New Zealand. 

The acceptable words in Scrabble’s dictionary have always been a bone of contention among players, with many common words in New Zealand’s collective vernacular being banned from gameplay. Kiwi Scrabble, a collaboration between The Warehouse and Mattel, changes the rules to include a chock-a-block list of 300 Kiwi words.

The launch follows a nationwide word search earlier this year, when The Warehouse asked people to share their favourite New Zealand words on Facebook.

Now the final stage of the campaign has been launched, with a TVC created by DDB in partnership with The Warehouse’s internal creative agency. Strategy and media support was delivered by Omnicom Media Group (OMG) with media partnership and influencer activity led by Spark PR & Activate. 

The TVC features Kiwi icons Jo Seagar and David Tua, with the legendary baker igniting the age-old debate over who is the rightful owner of the ‘pavlova’ – New Zealand or Australia. The Australian version of Scrabble includes the word ‘pavlova’ in the accepted words list as well. Well known for her pavlova recipes, Seagar makes her belief in the New Zealand origins of the dish clear in the ad. 

The Warehouse’s head of marketing Becki Butler says it has been a privilege for the team to take Kiwi Scrabble from its creative infancy with Mattel, right through to this celebration of New Zealand’s unique culture.

“The Warehouse has been part of New Zealand culture for more than 36 years, so this new version of Kiwi Scrabble gives us a chance to shine a light on our inimitable language, and do it with purpose and reason.”

This is the first fully-integrated marcomms campaign The Warehouse Group has delivered in collaboration between its in-house creative agency, long-standing partner DDB and its newly appointed media agency OMG

Kiwi Scrabble launched in store in September, and last week the launch was celebrated with a name change for The Warehouse Manukau. The store was renamed ‘The Warewhare’ and the sign was replaced and spelled out in Scrabble tiles. The Warehouse hosted a family fun day at the store with activity and The Hits Street Team on site. 

The campaign also features a first-to-market partnership for any New Zealand retailer with Google’s Director Mix product on YouTube. Over 100 dynamic video bumpers connect the new Kiwi Scrabble words with viewers’ interests, all running across a wide variety of YouTube content. Messaging will also run across digital and traditional OOH and social, with a series of creative that heroes some favourite kiwi words from the game.

The Warehouse credits:
The Warehouse Group Chief Marketing Officer: Jonathan Waecker
Head of Marketing – Home: Becki Butler
Executive Creative Director: Andrew Berglund

DDB credits:
Chief Creative Officer: Damon Stapleton
Executive Creative Director: Shane Bradnick
Creative Director: Brad Collett
Art Director: Julia Ferrier
Copywriter: Veronica Copestake
Lead Business Partner: Nikki McKelvie
Senior Business Director: Jaheb Barnett
Senior Business Manager: Georgie Levitt
Account Executive: Georgie Foot
Chief Planning Officer: Rupert Price
Senior Planner: Thinza Mon
Digital Strategist: Carina Egelhof

OMG credits:
Mike Harrison
David McCallen
Rachel Stewart

Spark PR & Activate credits:
Dallas Gurney
Aimee Nicholls

Eight (production company) credits:
Executive Producer: Dan Higgins
Director: Steve Saussey
Music & Sound design: Liquid
Post Production: Creature

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