Boots: #SpecialBecause

Picture: the Daily Mail

The Christmas shopping season is as important to UK pharmacy Boots as to any other retailer on the high street.  What is unusual about their 2014 marketing campaign is that while most others bolt social media onto the TV advertising, Boots seems to have come up with the idea of a meme around giving first, and then designed other elements around it.

Boots are promoting #SpecialBecause, the pleasure of giving rather than the joy of receiving that features in many competing offerings.  Exceptions include Marks & Spencer whose social media campaign #FollowTheFairies is fed by a team travelling the UK performing random acts of kindness.  Boots is running something similar, "celebrating the little things that make big differences".

The advertisement tells the story of a family that makes the effort to make a mother feel special when she has had to work over Christmas day.  It features music by Alexi Murdoch, his Song for You subtly chiming with the whole theme of giving.  But while John Lewis and Asda have recorded special versions of their soundtracks and released them as singles, Boots uses Murdoch's recording unaltered.  In fact there is only a passing reference to it on YouTube.

On Twitter Boots encourages customers to engage with #SpecialBecause, but the idea seems to be taking time to catch on.  The advertisement was first screened on 7 November, like Tesco's new Christmas ad being premiered during the finale of Downton Abbey.  7-8 million viewers guaranteed.  YouTube has been less generous, delivering just 170,000 views in the 3 days since.  The official Boots Facebook page, with over 750,000 fans, have also been fairly coy about the campaign.

The decision to downplay the soundtrack seems like a missed opportunity.  John Lewis gained additional publicity when its Christmas number Real Love charted at number 21 in its first week.  Both they and Asda have had the charities which benefit from the royalties promoting the campaigns and helping generate the memes.  Boots's rivals are being seen to be supporting worthy causes: surely these are #SpecialBecause?