Nobody does household goods better than Lastman’s Bad Boy

The Bad Boy Superstore story began with Mel Lastman opening the first Bad Boy location in Weston Road, Toronto in Canada in 1955. Lastman’s charisma, great business sense, and creative advertising techniques made him and his store an instant hit, leading to the opening of another 40 stores across Canada. The Bad Boy chain quickly became a furniture, appliance, and electronics empire, and with good reason.

After selling his business in 1972, Lastman’s son, Blayne, took up his father’s mantle in 1991 and kept growing the company into the powerhouse customers know and love today. Blayne continued in his father’s iconic footsteps, using innovative shticks to market the business. One advert used a Bill Clinton lookalike in a TV commercial which became an international media sensation. In 1999, he even signed a deal with a host of WWE wrestlers to do in-store autographs as part of a store promotion. NHL players also came on board to promote the chain in 2013.

Recently, the institution that is Lastman’s Bad Boy partnered with Integrated Marketing to create a fresh way of marketing the brand: a digital twin that allows visitors of the store’s website to take a virtual tour of the store floor. We caught up with Gary Roberts, owner of Integrated Marketing to chat about the motivation behind creating the digital twin and how it’s contributed to the store’s continued marketing success.

What inspired you to request the 3D capture (digital twin) of this space?

I have been working successfully in the furniture retailing space for some time now. As part of a large prominent leading Canadian furniture retailer, I reached out to Matterport knowing that they could definitely assist Bad Boy in increasing its brand awareness. By creating a digital twin of the store floor, we were able to use a new method of marketing to advertise.

What are the “must-sees” in your store’s digital twin you want visitors to explore, and why?

The great thing about this digital twin scan is that it’s all-encompassing, so the virtual tour includes a variety of appliances, electronics, and furniture. Because shoppers can see all the products we have available on display, the tour appeals to all customers no matter what they’re looking for.

What’s the one thing you want visitors to “take away” after going on your 3D tour?

We want customers to understand that Bad Boy offers a wide selection of furniture, appliances, and electronics. The store stocks anything you could possibly want or need in that market. 

What are the benefits of having a Matterport digital twin?

I would say the primary benefit of brands using digital twins is that they give customers the opportunity to do a kind of store “pre-visit” which allows them to get an understanding of a brand’s selection before they come in physically to make a purchase. The inclusion of strategically placed Mattertags adds to a customer’s knowledge of the products available to them.

Do you have any plans to capture more 3D experiences?

Since 2016, my company, Integrated Marketing, has been collaborating successfully with Matterport to create digital twins for many of our clients. I have also discovered this technology is very useful for brands using commercial spaces beyond real estate companies. I’ll continue suggesting Matterport’s digital twin services to my clients (particularly commercial store owners) because as funny as it might sound, very few companies in Canada are aware of Matterport and how Matterport’s digital twins can help their brand.