The 99 Cents Only Stores is a chain of 388 stores and their 9/9 Day, September 9th, is more than a single event. It’s a one-day, wide-ranging celebration of the brand. As an extreme value retailer, people doubt it has the name brands and assortment it really does. The day needed to be fun-filled, make people believe the store carries name brands and assortment, and involve thousands of customers.

The solution built on print and digital work that shows numerous store products organized into the shape of a “99.” For 9/9 Day, the creative idea was the ultimate version of this, a World Record Breaking 99 formed from all the stores products. The store has many locations in the Los Angeles area and the site chosen was an iconic stadium, the Rose Bowl. Extensions at the stores included the quirky humor the brand is known for with 3 couples renewing their wedding vows in stores and dance competitions.

An enormous number 99 was formed out of more than 16,000 distinct products. It not only broke a Guinness World Record, but reached an audience of 238M and afterwards, 16,076 products were donated to charitable foundations in the community.

To convey the totality of the 9/9 Day event, an infographic approach made perfect sense, but unlike typical busy ones, this had to feel simple to fit the brand.

Capturing and organizing the hundreds of data points into a playful design started four months earlier. Over 100+ individual illustrations were used in creating the 2D vector 99 world. This illustrative approach allowed us to design in real time as the 99 Guinness World Record was being broken. Given the massive amount of information, the design was intended to make the viewer go back and discover new details each time - a visual treasure hunt perfectly matching a brand known for treasure hunt-style stores. As the final piece of a holistic campaign, the 9/9 Day poster commemorates the 9/9 Day event,

and thousands of them continue to remind people of the impact of the event on the community.

388 Participating Stores

38,000 Gift Cards Distributed

18,200sq ft of 99 Cents Only Stores Merchandise

16,076 Products Showcased and donated to charitable foundations

174 #Dothe99Challenge Participants

99 Minute Meet & Greet with LAFC #99

5 Happy Donation Partners

5 Radio Remotes

3 Wedding Vow Renewals

1 Ryan Seacrest Shoutout

1 Guinness World Record

Thousands of customers who love the brand for its community work and fun attitude came in to participate and the World Record Breaking 99 received 238MM Impressions and generated $5.2MM in Earned Value. It was also one of the biggest retail traffic spikes the brand has seen all year.