THE NIGHTSIDE EXPERIENCE

TitleTHE NIGHTSIDE EXPERIENCE
BrandLEE ASIA PACIFIC
Product / ServiceLEE NIGHTSKINS
CategoryA05. Best Use or Integration of Experiential Events
EntrantOGILVY SHANGHAI, CHINA
Entrant Company OGILVY SHANGHAI, CHINA
Contributing Company OGILVY SHANGHAI, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Vivian Tu Ogilvy/Mather Advertising Shanghai Planner
Janet Ding Ogilvy/Mather Advertising Shanghai Associate Account Director
Kemin Zhang Ssbd Audio Director
Oli Goulden Ogilvy/Mather Advertising Shanghai Gad/Producer
Martin Latham Ogilvy/Mather Advertising Shanghai Associate Creative Director
Graham Fink Ogilvy/Mather Advertising Shanghai Chief Creative Officer

The Campaign

World of fashion is in turmoil. The rise of ‘fast fashion’ is putting new strain on the iconic brands to re-prove their value propositions. And with the slowdown in the premium price points (Source: Euromonitor international), the battle of China’s two largest denim brands: Lee and Levis takes on new commercial sensitivity.

Results

After years of trailing behind archrival Levis, Lee decided to change tactics. In autumn 2012 Lee (China) launched their most provocative collection yet “Night Skins” The overall campaign idea “Free your Night Side” aimed to trigger a discussion about the recessive ‘night side’ within the target market. We were asked to create a launch event that would not only showcase the Night Skins collection but also generate content that would increase engagement with the campaign. And of course they wanted to sell a few pairs of jeans in the process. With no paid media support we had to utilise the social influence of our high-profile guest list. We needed to create content our guests couldn’t resist sharing. So we invited a carefully selected guest list of fashion bloggers, editors, and celebrities to what they thought was a normal launch event. But it was all a big set up. Awaiting them was a cast of over 100 people but most importantly, a network of hidden cameras. In pairs our unsuspecting victims were subject to a series of experiences, each carefully designed to expose their Night Side to our cameras. Immediately after the event, our guests received a personalised film of their experience. Each film linked through to the ecommerce site helping ensure the sales targets were met. 99% of our guests willingly shared the content. The films received over 3 million views. The range sold out entirely and for the first time in 10 years Lee outsold Levis, despite spending 3 times less.

The overall campaign goal is to gain market share and elevate the Lee brand image among target audience and close the equity gap with Levi’s. Lee’s consumer and prospects were primarily 25-35 years of age with relatively affluent incomes (RMB 15,000 and above). They were sophisticated large city urbanites working as white collar professionals often not long out of university, trying to make their way in the world. High on their agenda was to ‘find their own visual voice’ for the office and in their growing social circles both digitally and through real life experiences.

1). Despite the lack of investment, we inspired a significant consumer response: • 500,000 + people engaged with Lee branded content (highest ever for Lee) • 3.2 million views of the films. • 50,000 + become ‘fans of Lee’ (up from zero prior to the campaign) • 142,000 blogs directly discussed the campaign • US$ 2million media earned 2). The campaign significantly improved the brand’s image properties: Lee creative worked by making the brand appear more popular, confident and innovative. These attributes below increased +18.6%. Compared to Levis, on these key driving attributes, Levis declined -2%. (source: Jigsaw International) 3) The improved brand perception boosted Lee’s brand equity +12% (source: Jigsaw International) 4) The strong consumer reaction and improved brand image increased retail activity and desire for Lee’s products. Not only did we sell out the Night Skins range, business uplift was detected across the broader range. Despite the slowing growth in the premium segment, Lee held its share while Levis lost share despite outspending Lee 3x: 2011 vs 2012 Lee holds share at 9% Levi’s drops share from 12 to 10%) (source: Jigsaw International) 5) In terms of media spent efficiency: Each dollar spent sold 44.8 pairs of Lee jeans vs 16.6 pairs of Levis jeans. (source: Euromonitor International, Mindshare, VF China)