Rack it Up!

Rakuten what? That was the question facing the new and difficult-to-pronounce Japanese e-commerce company. Having a stand-out cash-back-earning service wasn’t quite enough for it to take off in North America. The brand needed people to know what the heck it was. Rakuten turned to Standard Black for an awareness campaign that explained what Rakuten is, how it works and why everyone should use it.

Our Solution? We turned Rakuten’s strange name into a sticky slogan: Rack it up with Rakuten.

We launched an awareness campaign called “Let’s Talk Rakuten” executed across TV, OOH, and digital. In humorous TV spots, Rakuten fans turned familiar situations into a sales pitch to “Rack it up with Rakuten.”

The campaign rolled out in several phases. Tailored creative, digital, and branded content were executed across a comprehensive mix of media channels and digital platforms. The campaign strategically targeted high-profile events and peak shopping seasons to capitalize on peak viewership and timely call-to-action.

A broadcast spot with Cash Back MVP Stephen Curry kicked off the NBA season, garnering hundreds of thousands of impressions, while Holiday creative reached nationwide audiences during the peak of gifting season. The next wave of the campaign was launched in a pre-game Super Bowl spot featuring an uncomfortable father and son moment. An OOH campaign across North America – including contextual placements in NYC, LA, Vancouver, SF, and large-scale subway station takeovers in Hudson Yards and Montgomery BART – took the Cash Back conversation even further.

Rakuten was transformed. Unaided awareness doubled over the course of the campaign. Our TV spots garnered over 500 Million impressions across the US and Canada, with our OOH campaign reaching over 1 Billion impressions. Rakuten exceeded its goals in establishing brand awareness, driving brand engagement, and increasing its customer base.

Consumers weren’t the only ones talking about the campaign. Rakuten Rewards’s VP of Marketing, Trevor Gregory said, “The Standard Black team were amazing to work with and absolutely clutch for the successful rebrand! Looking forward to more awesome campaigns together in the future! #RackItUp.”