The sad events that saw one of the UKs most loved (and confused) retailers disappear from the high street have been turned on their head by the news that they are to re-open as an online only brand.
The Woolies Blog
The news has been extremely well received by the UK public who, having had a belly full of the recession and business failures, has taken the whole revival story very much to their hearts.
Woolworths, or Woolies as it was affectionately known, was once on every high street and was THE place to buy, well, just about anything before discount stores arrived, with most kids in the 80’buying their first 45 record there, a quarter of raspberry ruffles and a plastic (blow in the wind) football.
The first single I ever bought
Well, all that has changed but rather than Woolies rise from the ashes as a shadow of it’s former self, the rather smart agency that has been handed the task to re-invent them online have provided a lesson to us all.
Rather than use lame site under construction notices – the team looked to leverage the publics hunger for more information on its future by hosting a very entertaining home page. The holding site features an entertaining day by day blog on their plans and progress in re-launching; blasts from the past with historical Woolworths ads on YouTube and they’ve even asked customers on Twitter and Facebook about the first single they ever bought (which in the UK was always bought at Woolworths) and in the words of the Woolies team “Some were embarrassing, some were all-time classics!”. They’ve even created a best of album that can be downloaded or listened to through lastFM online radio.
A great story but one can’t help but think that if the public had been this enthusiastic when the real store was still on the high street things may have turned out differently – but hey I bet they build one hell of an online store!
http://www.woolworthsblog.co.uk/
Matt Scott, DraftFCB
