Droga5: This Is Me

 

Pier 1’s New Brand Launch

Beginning August 2018, Pier 1 is reintroducing their business, starting with the launch of their new brand platform “This is Me”, which puts customers back at the heart of the specialty retailer and helps power the transformation of Pier 1. The launch is the first step of many that Pier 1 is embarking on as they look redefine their business across every aspect including communications, store activations, loyalty programs and employee branding.

The new brand platform is not only reintroducing the Pier 1 brand to America, it’s about embracing their new identity, it’s creative and confident, fun and inviting, and bold when others won’t be. This is already being seen in a number of new initiatives, including P1 Picks (A selection of Pier 1’s favorite products that are available at a great price, all day, everyday) and Fast Fabs (a new, fast-turnover category which includes smaller decor objectives starting at $3.95. Selections are geared towards impulse shopping with a dedicated space in-store.)

The launch intends to break away from category norms, speaks to today’s home decor enthusiasts and depicts the company in a new light overall — a store that doesn’t tell consumers the one way to decorate their home but one that gives them everything they need to make a home that truly reflects who they are. It’s about embracing what their customers know and love because for them “decorating never ends” and they are always are looking to define their “little slice of earth”.

The brand transformation will also come to life within the halls of the company. Not only are we refreshing what the Pier 1 brand means to consumers, we’re also taking a look at how celebrating the art of self expression will impact what Pier 1 means to their current and future employees.

 

Tell us about your role in the creation of this work.

The Droga5 team was tasked with reintroducing the Pier 1 brand to America, so we have helped the brand create an exciting, original new brand platform. The launch is one step of many that Pier 1 is embarking on as it looks to redefine its business, putting the customer at the center of every aspect.

 

Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about?

The brand platform, “This is Me,” puts customers back at the heart of the specialty retailer and helps power the transformation of Pier 1. The new brand platform is not only reintroducing the Pier 1 brand to America, it’s embracing Pier 1’s new identity. It’s creative and confident, fun and inviting—bold where others won’t be.

 

Tell us about the details of the creative brief, what did it ask?

Pier 1 is evolving how it thinks about and listens to today's home-decor enthusiasts through how it buys product, personalizes communication, speaks to customers and designs out-of-the-box retail experiences, all in effort to inspire customers to blend unique looks and styles together in a way that helps them bring out their self-expression.

 

Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work? 

Pier 1 has listened to its customers and heard their unique needs and desires when it comes to home decor and self-expression and seen the way these customers blend styles and products, from “zen boho” to “rustic contemporary,” to how they discover, find and purchase products that help them bring their home to life. Self-expression in itself is an art to be encouraged, discovered and celebrated, and we saw a white space in which to inspire consumers and provide them with the guidance and tools to create their own look, not force-fit them into someone else’s.

 

Can you share with us any alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?

There have been a number of iterations of the idea, but from pretty early on we knew what our line was and what the essence of the campaign was going to be about.

 

How did the client initially react to this idea?

The client reacted positively right from the beginning. One of the many great things about working with Pier 1 has been their desire to shake things up. They didn’t want to blend in, and they encouraged us to really push them throughout the process. For example, we recently finished a successful Instagram campaign that parodied the idea of a rap battle but with cheesy, old, unwanted home decor that just didn’t say, “This is Me.” It was called the “Crap Battle:” people posted their old items, and we pitted two items against each other to see which one was crappiest. And, of course, the winners got a gift certificate to buy new things that actually said “This is Me.”

 

What was the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development?

Really just normal production challenges.

 

What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?

Any time you get to work with a brand as iconic as Pier 1, it’s a thrill and you learn something new every day. A lot of it was surprisingly personal and even emotional. We learned that this desire to decorate is a very important way of saying, “This is who I am!” That’s a really powerful statement. It’s also been really exciting to see the brand transformation come to life within the halls of the company. Pier 1 employees are a passionate group of people and have really embraced this new journey for the brand.

 

Where do you see this campaign going in the future?

“This is Me” is a celebration of our consumer’s self-expression, which gives us infinite opportunities to celebrate, share and support our consumers’ decor stories. It also fundamentally redefines how we position the business across communications, store activations, loyalty programs and internal employee branding.