Groupon Inc. (GRPN)

[FUNMAN]

Groupon taps O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul Chicago for holiday ad message


By Lewis Lazare – Reporter, Chicago Business Journal
Dec 15, 2017, 12:47pm CST Updated 7 hours ago

At Groupon, with Christmas fast approaching, it's all about instant — iInstant gift-giving that is.

Groupon has just debuted a new commercial from its ad agency of record O'Keefe, Reinhard & Paul Chicago (OKRP) that emphasizes Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is the online deals epicenter where consumers can go to find instant deals that could make the perfect gift.

Noted Jon Wild, vice president of North American marketing for Groupon: "This campaign celebrates what sets us apart from all other holiday shopping destinations — the ability to instantly gift amazing local experiences from small businesses in your community. We have the distinctive ability to be the idea last-minute gifting source for shoppers with our wide variety of activities, restaurants, beauty services and more. Plus we provide a seamless savings experience for the gift-giver."

The new instant gifting spot from OKRP will be instantly recognizable as a Groupon spot to those consumers familiar with previous Groupon brand advertising from the ad shop that was set to the highly-distinctive "Funiculi Funicula" classical pop ditty with the oddly light operatic underpinnings.

The trick for the creative folk at OKRP was to rewrite the lyrics to the song to fit the gifting message that is the new commercial's intent. It was definitely a challenge. But OKRP has once again risen to that challenge and managed, in the process, to reel off a whole slew of possible instant last-minute gifts.

Added OKRP chief creative officer Matt Reinhard: "We have built a unique voice for the Groupon brand that is instantly recognizable with its use of orchestra music and operatic rhyme. This year we saw an opportunity to leverage our musical storytelling to promote Groupon's deep local offerings as the perfect antidote to the last minute gifter while also celebrating the great deals they offer."

Groupon is hitting hard on last-minute gifting because research suggests that is the way it is in many U.S. households. Per the National Retail Federation, only one in 10 Americans complete their holiday shopping by mid-December with indecisiveness over what to buy ranking as the number one cause.

The plethora of gift options available on Groupon isn't likely to make the gifting decisions any easier. But it's all part of the fun of the season, right?