Sears Canada is changing its media strategy this holiday season. In order to break through the clutter of the season and reach people where they are, the retailer has launched two OOH experiential stunts in Toronto.

The first is targeted at getting shoppers to the new Sears Canada website and promote its free holiday shipping, Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, VP and associate CD at BBDO tells MiC.

The stunt, which was executed with Jump Creative launched on Friday and runs until Dec. 20 has a shopper carrying a large pile of boxes with a sticker on them, which says “I should have done my holiday shopping at Sears.ca.”

Crimi-Lamanna says a second phase of the stunt sends cars, stuffed with presents and piled high with boxes on top, driving around the Greater Toronto Area with similar stickers.

Preliminary results have been favourable, says Deborah Prenger, VP and associate CD at BBDO, noting people have been noticing the execution, even stopping the Sears Canada stunt person to ask if they need help with their boxes.

“With all the holiday messaging it is nice to do something that breaks through and makes people smile,” she says. “Sears Canada has traditionally been focused on traditional media. They are trying something different, which makes us excited for future opportunities.”

Today Sears Canada is rolling out the last phase of the OOH campaign, taking over four Astral OOH transit shelters in front of its Eaton Centre store in Toronto as well as at Yorkdale Mall and turning them into virtual holiday card shops.

Passersby can take a holiday themed photo (putting a carrot on the nose of a snowman or a star on a Christmas tree, for instance) and are encouraged to share the photos to their social networks with the hastag #holidaywish. Prenger says the goal of the campaign is to start talking with consumers in a way Sears Canada hasn’t in the past.