The Container Store airs first work from first AOR – Info Advertisement

The Container Store is giving itself a makeover to modernize for new consumers. It recently opened a redesigned concept store with new tech components. Now, it’s debuting its first branding campaign.

The 40-year-old retailer this week will begin pushing “Where Space Comes From,” which promotes the Container Store as a brand for projects big and small—top-to-bottom overhauls of a garage or a simple solution for storing Tupperware, for example.

“We saw a huge opportunity to talk to our existing customer but also talk to a lot of new customers we may not have been addressing in the past,” explains Melissa Collins, chief marketing officer at the Coppell, Texas-based chain. “We felt we had to have a campaign that would speak to them and really go back to our purpose of helping customers.”

Earlier this year, the Container Store tapped Austin-based Preacher as its first agency of record, following a review. In the past, the brand conducted all marketing via its in-house agency. Most pushes were seasonal sales events and campaigns to position the retailer as “the original storage and organization store,” a tagline that will continue to be used, Collins says.

The new campaign includes four 30-second TV spots, print, radio, digital and in-store marketing. The humorous spots focus on the brand’s spectrum of services for all sizes of projects. In one, a young Harry Styles-lookalike uses his “gangly teen arms” to help find a Tupperware lid for his parents. The ads also cite a fact about outer space, like “in deep space, matter is constantly rearranging itself,” to reinforce the new “Where Space Comes From” tagline.

“To maximize the space in our home is one of humanity’s purest thrills,” says Seth Gaffney, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Preacher. “We wanted to capture that wonder, that enormity—but in a way that is massively relatable.”

While Collins declined to provide budget specifics, she said the investment is “significant.” Last year, the Container Store spent $14.1 million on measured media in the U.S., according to Kantar Media. In its most recent quarter, the retailer posted a 5 percent rise in net sales to $232.8 million, compared with the year-earlier period. The company posted a loss of $399,000, though same-store sales grew 2.7 percent.

Last month, the brand opened its first “Next Generation” store, featuring digital screens and a lounge area. The Dallas, Texas-based concept shop is expected to help attract younger consumers and allow the brand to further compete with Amazon.