PRIME TIME ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE Asian media outlets focus on Roots
World Traveller China Media at the Robson St. store
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hen the foreign media come to town, Roots is often on their itinerary. As a quintessential Canadian brand, Roots is a popular choice for international journalists seeking to show style indigenous to this country. In October, members of the Sanlih News Channel came to the Roots head office in Toronto to interview Co-Founders
Sanlih News Channel up close with co-founders
Michael Budman and Don Green. The segment will appear on the channel’s The Borderless World, a one-hour program that highlights a different country each week. During their stay, the team also filmed the Roots leather factory, the Bloor Street and Rosedale stores as well as the Roots Yoga Studio. The crew reported on places in Vancouver
Wei Kuo-Hsu and Paul Wen from Sanlih News
and Montreal in their “Best of Canada” feature. A few weeks earlier, Chinese media came to British Columbia, especially to showcase tourist hotspots in Vancouver. While they were there, World Traveller China Media filmed a segment at the Roots store on Robson Street, highlighting various leather products. With an audience of 13
ASIA CALLING
STAYING POWER
The latest Roots news from afar
Left: “Wrapped” buses circulate in Taipei. Right: Staff at Chengdu store show their Roots
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ourteen years after its arrival in Taiwan, Roots is more in demand than ever. The growing popularity of the brand there has led to its expansion in China, with new stores in Shanghai and Chengdu, joining 39 others in Asia. Built with ecofriendly materials where possible, the just-opened stores reflect the company’s recent initiative to re-launch its leather business in Asia. Newly introduced walls for displaying leather bags in stores do more justice to the quality of the products and make for a better shopping experience for customers. Issue 98
million viewers, World Traveller is one of the most popular channels in Taiwan. Their print magazine, also called World Traveller, boasts a readership of more than 400,000. This recent spate of media coverage of Roots will be of particular interest to its growing number of its customers in Asia, where there are now close to 40 stores.
To oversee the latest Roots developments in Asia, Melinda McDonald, VP of Wholesale and Business Development, and Liz Doggett, Director of Wholesale Operations, spent 10 days there in October. To promote leather bags, Roots took to the streets of Taiwan in a novel marketing initiative, using commuter buses wrapped in high-resolution images of leather. This creative campaign in Taipei caught the attention of thousands of commuters daily, with 50 “wrapped” buses traveling on two of the city’s main streets over a two-
week period. Meanwhile, the editor of the Taiwanese edition of Elle held a VIP product launch party for Roots, showcasing fall merchandise in a fashion show. The party included a ‘Buddy the Beaver’ mascot, and Roots-themed photo-booths. In another promotional initiative, two well-known local media personalities acted as store managers at the Roots boutique in the Xamen district of Taipei. Entitled ‘Manager for a Day,’ the twin brother TV hosts helped attract many journalists and customers to the store.
Saluting those who go the distance Maria Manuela De Freitas, Leather Floor, 20 years Ginette Fillion, Regional Director, 20 years Basmati Prashad, Leather Stitcher, 15 years Mei Liang Zheng, Leather Stitcher, 15 years Shaherezade Noorhassan, AP Associate, 10 years Michelle Resendes, Assistant Manager, 10 years Vida Azarakhsh, Keyholder, 5 years Jennifer Boyd, Sales Associate, 5 years Rajnita Jagpal, Sales Associate, 5 years Jina Kwak, Sales Associate, 5 years Marie-Michele Labrosse, Keyholder, 5 years Lisa Moorhouse, Store Manager, 5 years Sandy Mouselo, Planning Manager, 5 years Lisa Ngo, Sales Associate, 5 years Melissa Sardinha, Sales Associate, 5 years The Source • 9