THE BOOTIQUES 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  

How do you help shift customer perception and drive reappraisal of an iconic high street in the highly competitive Christmas season? 

In just twelve short weeks from conception to execution, Geometry delivered three stunningly effective activations. From concept, design, product and location strategy and build, we created three unique week-long retail experiences. And, a national campaign launch event showcasing the magical creativity of Boots’ “Gift Like You Get Them” Bootiques, surprising and engaging the media, influencers and the industry alike.

Results exceeded expectations. With over 14,000 visitors, 73% said they discovered products they did not associate with Boots, and 75% said the experience made them reappraise perception of Boots as a gifting destination – our critical objective.  

Geometry reimagined retail, served up Boots’ first ever experience-led Christmas campaign and drove re-appraisal of a much-loved high street brand. 

"This Christmas, we want to help the nation feel good, with a fun look at the very real challenge of finding that perfect gift. People’s ever-changing passions and interests can make it tough to buy for them at Christmas. We have used that challenge as a source of creative inspiration to help customers easily shop from the amazing range of gifts Boots have to offer, across our gifting, beauty, health and wellness ranges." Helen Normoyle, marketing director for Boots UK and Ireland.

Welcome to Bootiques: “What to buy the person you’re heels over head with”, “What to buy the person who is dreaming of sleep” and “What to buy the strange moody tweenager formerly known as your little angel”. 

MAIN REPORT:

Christmas is a key trading period for any retailer, and the UK retail landscape has become ever more competitive over recent years.

As a veteran of the high street, Boots had become synonymous with 3for2’s but was failing to attract younger, more promiscuous shoppers. They needed consumers to reappraise Boots offering, creating a shift from a convenient stop for stocking fillers to a thoughtful gift shopping destination.

STRATEGY DETAILS:

We all suffer from the ‘modern gifting dilemma’ – how to buy the perfect, personalised gift reflecting the recipient’s passions, hobbies and life. In fact, Boots’ own research found that “people want to give fewer but better gifts”[1] at Christmas. 

Marrying a wide range of products with real customer insight and combined with UK-wide scale and heritage [Boots has been part of our lives since the 1800s, and today has 2,500 stores nationwide] the retailer was brilliantly placed to deliver against the desire for personalised gifts for everyone.

With these assets, Boots was able to curate their products into bespoke ranges and solve the Christmas gifting challenge, across every community, no matter how niche - from insomniacs to runners, vegans to tweenagers and lovers to gym-bunnies.

But, how to bring these curated products to life during the critical, highly competitive Christmas sales period?

We re-imagined retail and created Boot’s first ever experiential-led Christmas campaign.

Activating the powerful Christmas advertising campaign (Gift Like You Get Them) from our sister agency Ogilvy, and, insightfully harnessing consumer thirst for experiences, pop-up retail and limited editions, we brought ‘Bootiques’ to life. We created stand-alone, micro themed pop-up stores, bringing an unexpected Boots to the high street.

For success, location mattered. We used consumer research to uncover the most pressing desires and needs of local communities and tagged these to themed Christmas product kits. Liverpool, with the UK’s highest frequency of insomniacs, presented an ideal location to showcase Boots’ range of sleep-aiding products. Londoners spend more than any other region on their sex lives - perfect for curated love-themed products. Birmingham is the UK Tween capital, with the second highest population of 10-14yr olds in the country – allowing Boots to create a curated range of products specifically with youth appeal.

“What to buy the person you’re heels over head with” Bootique (London)

The London bootique solved the conundrum,” What to buy the person you’re heels over head with?”. Research revealed that Londoners spend 32% more money than the rest of the UK on sexual products, and, twice as long having sex[2].

The insight led to the ‘up-side-down’ Bootique, a sensorial experience based on turning your love life upside down. To reflect this emotion, we created an inverted boudoir, with full working fireplace, four-poster bed, mirrored-cabinets, wall paintings, and a Christmas tree – built from ceiling down, not floor up. The boudoir invited people to discover candles, massage oils and even vibrators.

An experiential delight and social-media smorgasbord, conversation ignited around a new Boots’ Christmas experience and a startling product range.

“Feels like Soho and Christmas wrapped up in one activation!” encapsulated social commentary.

“What to buy the person dreaming of sleep” Bootique (Liverpool)

Over 50% of people in Liverpool aren’t getting enough sleep[3].  So, our Bootique brought sleep remedies to them with a relaxational experience and sleep-dedicated store.

 A twin-domed pop up store invited consumers into a starry night universe with cushy cloud loungers and chill out zones. Enticed to plump down, relax, listen to sleep experts, bedtime stories, podcasts and meditations, people arrived frantic and left calm, equipped with carefully curated kits for each sleep phase: from 6-8 pm, “how to calm the day”; from 8-10 pm, “how to prepare for sleep”; from 10 pm-12, “how to fall asleep”; from 12-6 am, “how to stay asleep”. 

“What to buy the moody tweenager formerly known as your little angel” Bootique (Birmingham)

With 45% more tweens compared to the national average, Birmingham is the UK tween capital[4]. We tapped into the world of emojis to connect with tweens and their parents.

A rainbow emoji opened the door to tween dreamland where visitors chose from five different emojis that characterised the tween to discover a specially curated kit containing a selection of gifts to match their mood.

Designed also with tweens in mind who have abandoned writing letters to Santa, but spend their time trying new Snapchat filters or perfecting Tik Tok moves, the Bootique offered a social media-ready world for the picture-perfect selfie.

***

As part of our strategy, the activation campaign drew in twenty-five niche influencers to build social buzz and credibility with specific customer targets, from beauty bloggers to wellness gurus. It was amplified strategically through their social media channels and further supported by a precision PR campaign [led by our sister company Ogilvy & Mather PR] – targeting national, regional, women’s and lifestyle titles.

RESULTS:

Over 14,000 people visited our Bootiques  in the weeks they were live of which 73% said they discovered products they didn’t know were sold in Boots, and a massive 75% said the experience made them reappraise their perception of Boots as a gifting destination[5].

The perception-shift stretched far beyond the experiences themselves with social media reach of over 21million from influencer Instagram stories and almost 900,000 impressions from Boots social channels. 72% of our 14,000 visitors also shared photos on their social media channels, influencing family and friends.

The Bootiques grabbed media headlines – a challenge during the festive period, with 2.3million OTS (‘opportunities to see’) from 15 popular and desirable titles, including Evening Standard, Hello!, Independent, Glamour and Good Housekeeping, as well as local media channel coverage such as Birmingham Mail, LiverpoolTV and Liverpool’s Echo. 

All this putting Boots firmly back on the radar at Christmas and making sure the nation got the gifts they’d always wanted.

TESTIMONIALS:

Client testimonials:

“You guys really have been amazing throughout the whole process. How you managed to land this under such time pressures and ongoing challenges I have no idea! Production values have been incredible and the whole team have a been a true pleasure to work with. Thanks so much, really great job to everyone.”
Julie Bentley, Senior Marketing Manager, Boots

Consumer testimonials:

"This is very different from anything else I've seen from Boots"

"Can I really buy these things in Boots? I've never noticed them in-store!"

"I love the Bootique idea, it makes shopping simple but personal"

"I worked for Boots for 5 years and didn't even know they did this sort of thing. It's such an amazing way to show people what they sell in-store" 

"This has definitely made me think of shopping in Boots for Christmas presents in a different way" 

"It really feels like this is bringing Boots much more into the 21st century" 

"It's a whole new way of looking at gifting with specific people in mind"

"I really like this idea of buying personalised gifts rather than just picking up random bits and bobs when I pop into Boots — it's normally a store I use for stocking fillers" 

Press & Influencer comments

“Boots has opened an immersive one-stop Christmas shop and it will solve all your gifting conundrums” – Glamour Magazine 

“It feels so fresh and like nothing we’ve seen before” – Giselle Wainwright, The Sun

“I never like having my photo taken…I’m soooo paranoid about my body shape and how it looks BUT here’s to a BIG CHANGE – THANK YOU @bootsuk for inviting me to this super cool event!” @emeraldbeauty on Instagram, 349k followers