Boots

Boots used to be boring. It was a well-known, trusted high-street name that you knew would sell you necessary stuff like soap and cotton-wool balls (it's a chain of pharmacies, for all you non-UK folk), but it didn't register any further than that. Now, however, Boots has gone all vibrant and contemporary. And people love it.

That's because it has done a major overhaul of its advertising and redefined what its communications strategy is. Boots today is a feel-good brand that chimes with the 21st-century woman, rather than a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin retailer.

The first sign that it wasn't so dull after all was when the 160-year-old retailer hired Mother in 2003. Cue eager anticipation over the sort of funky stuff that Mother would come up with, and equal amounts of jealous cries about how the relationship wouldn't last. But it has; over the last seven years, Mother has unarguably delivered some breakthrough creative work and the union has, perhaps surprisingly, thrived. Boots is still paying Mother to promote it, and the client remains one of the agency's longest-standing bits of business. But it hasn't always been plain sailing.

Damon Collins, who's now executive creative director at Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R but was the former creative director on Boots at Mother at the very beginning of the account's history, recalls the early days: "I joined just after the Harry Hill Christmas campaign [one of the first that Mother did, which was not particularly successful]. Richard Baker, the then CEO of Boots, was said to have commented that he didn't want to turn his TV on over Christmas in case he saw those ads. Not a good time to start."

The client was, by all accounts, difficult in the beginning. To get work out was tricky and involved plenty of late nights. The retailer also had "lots of bad ideas", from wanting to put prices everywhere in their advertising to wanting products in every shot. "The real challenge was Boots' ingrained beliefs and ways of working," says Collins. "Everything had to be sold on value. Three-for-two, buy-one-get-one-free. They were also not behaving like health and beauty experts, their core positioning - they were spending lots of money promoting things like iPods, furry toys and pasta sets."

Andy Brent was the original client at Boots who hired Mother. He was replaced by Elizabeth Fagan as UK marketing director in 2006, but Brent was the man who triggered the start of Boots' repositioning. His first campaign was the Change One Thing New Year's resolution work, which was Boots' very first foray into doing customer-focused work. The campaign was all about helping people to give up stuff in the New Year, and Mother created all sorts of things from leaflets to courses, coaching websites and even products.

It was a key departure from the client's previous work, and kick-started a series of themed promotions like the summer Get Out There and Get Beach Gorgeous campaigns. Brent also commissioned the fabulously over-the-top David LaChapelle Tis The Season To Be Gorgeous 2006 Christmas TV ad, and focused their Christmas drive on beauty gifts - a successful shift. "Andy Brent came in and changed everything. He was uncompromising, with his own people as well as us. That was the only way he or anyone could have affected change," adds Collins.

Mother's core team on Boots now consists of Nik Studzinski, the creative director, and the creatives Peter Robertson and Susan Hosking. They talk about the thinking behind the brand's communications today: "These days people view health and beauty in a completely different way. We've realised that how we feel on the inside affects how we look on the outside, and vice versa. So no matter whether we're selling painkillers or a new lippy, the theme for Boots advertising is always the same. To feel good." Boots' own Fagan echoes this: "The whole feel-good brand positioning dates from 2007 and came out of a big review that we did, with Mother and our other agencies, of the brand and the customer strategy. Boots has become a truly customer-focused business. Everything we do now is grounded in what our customers and the Boots woman wants."

It is now also aiming its communications almost wholly at women. "Our work is unashamedly female focused," says the team at Mother. "It has to be. 80 per cent of both Boots customers and Boots staff are women. And because women tend to have a much more positive view of health and beauty than men (as any man dying of a cold will tell you), our ads reflect this."

The agency also saw rich creative potential in the likes of roll-on deodorant and crepe bandages. And this shows in all its work. "They may not be as sexy as alcohol or sportswear, but painkillers and sun creams are pretty good sources of comedy," insists Mother. "The products that Boots sell are part of everyone's life, so there are always funny little observations to be made about them." This year's summer campaign, for instance, was based around the 'holiday pack' - born out of the insight that women prepare for every eventuality by packing every health and beauty product available. "There's a comedy sketch in every product Boots sells," insists the agency.

The first creative highlight to emerge out of the association between Boots and Mother was in 2005 with Get Out There, the film based around the harsh reality that is the (short-lived, 24-hour even) British summer. It was shot by Garth Davis and depicted various people waiting for that one blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when the sun comes out. "We'd probably say that Get Out There in 2005 was the first time we really got it right," agrees Mother. "It was brimming with insights into the way Brits live that one day. One hour, if we're honest."

2007's Moment Of Truth was another great ad, based around the idea that the most dreaded moment in the year is when a woman has to peel off her clothes on the beach for the first time - and everyone stares. With the help of Boots, of course, she is happy to reveal her gorgeous, specially prepped and tanned body. Then there was the soaraway success that was the Christmas Here Come The Girls commercial that same year - the soundtrack of which has not only become the retailer's signature tune (used in their latest Christmas spot by Steve Reeves, just out), but also an anthem for rowdy girls out on the town.

Collins also fondly recalls that David LaChapelle Christmas TV ad of 2006, a kitsch fest of impossibly glamorous multi-tasking women going about their pre-Christmas chores - peeling sprouts, hoovering and so on - while also blow-drying their hair, taking bubble baths and painting their nails.

"Working with David was a high point. Many people said I was mad to go down that route but after talking to him I realised we had the same vision for the film, and when choosing a director that really is everything," he says.

Boots hasn't just been about big TV commercials during Mother's tenure, however. Because it is big, it can do things on a big scale. Teaming up with the Sugababes, it launched a campaign to raise awareness of the White Ribbon Alliance - a charity helping to prevent women in developing countries dying in childbirth - with all proceeds from the Sugababes version of Here Come The Girls being donated to the charity. Mother also started up a Boots Facebook group called Looks For How You Feel and 13,000 joined up. Plus, Mother's Change One Thing New Year campaign helped over half a million people lose weight or give up smoking.

Throughout, the client has demonstrated not only an ability to listen to its customers but also a strong belief in research and making sure that the work resonated with its audience. In many ways this has been its saving grace. "The consumer and research were our friends on that account," comments Collins. "What is really good about Boots is that they listen to research, both conceptual and creative. This was great because we were confident that talking to the customer would bear our idea out, and the customer always agreed with us."

It is fair to say that the way people think about Boots and its 2,500 outlets now, after its involvement with Mother, has shifted significantly. The retailer is no longer simply viewed as the rather faceless chemist on the high street - now it stands for something. Fagan says: "Before the internal review in 2006, Boots was a brand that was loved by lots of people because it did what it said on the tin. It had a pharmaceutical-led heritage and its products lived up to this, and it had a beauty tradition so it was a very female brand. But it used to be very sure and safe, and it has now become more vibrant and relevant to women in the 21st century. It is more contemporary and energetic as a brand, as opposed to being just a trusted brand. It is much more positive now, so that customers feel good about it and the people who work for it feel good." Mother adds: "The reality is that people have completely changed their perception of Boots. It's no longer that cold, clinical chemist. It's a place that recognises the way you think and feel, and which has good suggestions for what to do about it."

And yes, there is heaps of data to suggest the advertising and communications generally are working. According to a tracking study by research company Synovate, the proportion of women agreeing that Boots TV ads 'capture the way I sometimes feel' has risen from under 50 per cent to around 80 per cent, enjoyment scores have jumped from 5 or 6 [on a 10-point scale] to 7 or more, branding has gone through the roof, rising from scores of 20-40 per cent to over 80 per cent, and Boots' brand health measures are currently the highest they've ever been. "As a result, advertising ROI has almost doubled. For every pound we spend, we now generate 80 per cent more profit," says Mother, quoting figures from MediaCom Business Science econometrics.

Individually, the David LaChapelle commercial also gave Boots their best Christmas ever, while the Here Come The Girls ad the following Christmas beat that record.
So what defines the relationship? What makes it work so well? Mother sums up neatly: "We both have a clear vision for the brand. And rather uniquely, it's the same." Boots themselves are rather more prosaic. "The way that Mother works with its partners reflects the way Boots wants to work," says Fagan. "Our approaches are very similar; we're very driven, we want to get the best work out, we believe in co-creating the briefs and working hard with the planning team. Mother, along with our other agencies, has been willing to spend lots of time really getting under the skin of what women want from Boots."