For 100 years Canadian Tire has been the retailer Canadians have counted on.

The challenge: while consumers saw Canadian Tire as the place for seasonal goodies, they were viewed by their target as the more traditional, go-to choice for the holidays; the option you think of first, but that you wouldn’t tell your fun Gen-Z cousin about.

The brief: to reach a new age demographic of young Christmas shoppers. And to do so, Canadian Tire had to stand out in a breakthrough way that still hinged on these meaningful traditions. They had to shift perceptions in this target’s mind from providing staple solutions to innovative offerings, while staying rooted in the nostalgic family tradition of tree decorating. They needed to adapt from drawing on the past to thinking ahead; to seeing both the forest and all the Christmas trees within it. And to advance

technologically, as well as traditionally.

Buying tree decorations off the shelf has always been tricky. Getting the right balance between lights, ornaments, and tinsel; knowing which colours and themes work together or which trends and styles are popular. It’s an art form most of us just haven’t mastered. As Canada’s Christmas Store, Canadian Tire took this 240-year-old tree tradition and reinvented it.

Enter Canadian Tire’s Virtual Realitree. Choose your tree, add ornaments, lights and more. All from Canadian Tire’s real product list. You can decorate and redecorate until you’ve got the perfect festive shrub. With just one click you could order the perfect tree, decor, lights and more, from the VR world to your living room — knowing it’s perfect.

To reach a younger, more tech-savvy audience, Canadian Tire decided to tap into the newest, intriguing and arguably one of most talked-about tech platforms of this target’s generation: the Metaverse.

While traditional tree-building was resonating with older families, it was lost on Millennials. Canadian Tire decided to re-imagine the traditional tree-building experience with an innovative twist: build a tree, but in a virtual reality world. That way, younger shoppers didn’t even need to go to the store — they could decorate their tree on command from the comfort of their own homes. It not only helped make the shopping journey more seamless and enjoyable, but it helped shift perceptions for Canadian Tire and build on their brand purpose of making life in Canada better.

The VR Tree Decorator could be accessed via desktop, mobile or VR headset between November 1 and December 25, 2022. Consumers who visited were greeted with a fun, warm virtual environment and a tutorial video welcoming them to the space. From there, they could solve clues to win exclusive NFTs or start designing their perfect Christmas tree. Having the ability to decorate and redecorate virtually in order to create your perfect tree was a new, innovative use of the media. Being able to purchase your decor and tree and have it shipped to your door was the angel on top.

As a brand, Canadian Tire was successful in reaching their younger audience. The Virtual Realitree app had over 5500 downloads per month, with over 4600 weekly active users.

Of those active users, 60% of them were within the 12-39 year old age group.