Special Feature - The Entertainer

Ray comes to play at The Entertainer this Christmas

Following the launch of The Entertainer’s biggest ever Christmas brand campaign, which stars Ray as a previously loved but now forgotten plush after his child receives a remote controlled monster truck, Toy World's Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to Caroline Smith, the retailer’s head of Marketing, about brand 'body language', surprising your customers and much more.

I'm probably not alone in saying your Christmas brand campaign is quite surprising, and not necessarily what I would have expected a retailer such as The Entertainer to produce. What are your thoughts on that?

I actually take that as a real positive – surprising people was our ambition, even though we could have done the expected. I showed the advert to my kids last week and wthey were surprised too; my daughter told me: “I thought it would have had loads of kids running around!”

When we set out to create the campaign, we knew we had to create something that would make people sit up and pay attention and that we had to drive brand awareness by pulling on every lever at our disposal: a great soundtrack, a lovable character front-and-centre of the advert and a relatable, recognisable core message. We all know kids have a tendency to obsess over a certain toy for days or weeks or months, before the next new thing comes along and they move on - they’re fickle - but The Entertainer is as passionate about toys as kids are.

Why do you feel that the timing is right to launch this brand campaign?

As I think group CEO Andrew Murphy has mentioned before, our brand awareness is quite low considering the size and age of The Entertainer, as well as our consumer reach (around 90% of shoppers have either an Entertainer store or concession near them). We’re a big business but in the past, we’ve behaved like a smaller one.

I talk a lot about ‘body language’ in my job as a marketer. We need to present ourselves as a big player, competing with other big players, because that’s what we are. Our store presence is vast and our TrustPilot scores indicate that we’re Britain’s biggest and most beloved toy retailer. We need to act like it. The moment someone is thinking of buying a toy, we need to be top of mind, where we deserve to be. The campaign is part of our ‘body language’ shift and will supercharge our brand awareness.

Tell us more about Ray. What’s his story?

Ray is a completely new character devised specifically for this campaign. He’s pretty unique; he looks distinctive and certainly has an unexpected singing voice, which is actually British indie musician, Baxter Dury. Again, we could have created a character that was traditional and chintzy and expected, but then Ray wouldn’t stand out.

You can tell Ray’s been well loved. In the advert he looks a little worse for wear and is down in the dumps about being replaced, but that's because he’s enjoyed an amazing time with his child. He’s been to the park, on holidays, to school, he’s been the toy by his child’s side through thick and thin. Anyone with kids in their life will know that some kids just have that toy, the one so important it seems like the world would end if it was lost. And then, along comes this new toy and suddenly, he’s forgotten about. It’s such a familiar story, one that families across the country will recognise.

The good news is that because Ray is landing in The Entertainer stores, in Tesco concessions and online at Moonpig, in plush form (courtesy of Addo Play), he’ll be able to find an amazing home with thousands of shoppers that will love him like his previous owner loved him. The advert is obviously a huge part of our brand campaign and will appear across TV, cinema, social media and other channels, but what we’ve actually developed is a truly multi-channel campaign. We’re doing free gifts with purchases, in-store experiences, a Ray costume character that will be doing shop visits, collaborations with our retail partners – look closely, and you’ll actually spot Ray in Tesco's Christmas ad. This week sees the start of a huge PR activation around the campaign too.

What we’re trying to do is deliver engaging, emotional marketing that makes people feel something. If you watch an advert and it triggers feelings in you, be those joy, sadness or excitement, you’re more likely to remember that advert.

Adam&EveDDB, the media agency we worked with on the campaign, is the same agency that does the John Lewis advertising and has created this whole world around Christmas marketing campaigns. The team there is hugely talented, and we’re delighted with how our vision has been brought to life.

I feel like this brand campaign should be viewed as a statement of intent regarding The Entertainer business.