The Campaign

The term “cutting edge” may be overused, but in the Hong Kong fashion scene, specifically the world of hair design, it’s as real as it is elusive. Global VS Sassoon needed to keep the brand fresh, and doing so required winning over the “Fashion Junkies,” and their influential word-of-mouth network that see themselves ahead of every trend. To capture their attention, we launched the new VS Sassoon “Look of the Season,” the daring “Moveable Shape,” mastered with the help of VS Sassoon styling products. Just as “standing out from the crowd” defined the mindset of our Fashion Junkies, we knew it provided the perfect focus for the publicity campaign. We put “Moveable Shape” into action, seeding the hair style as a trend, enlisting a blogger outreach program, and launching a fully operational VS Sassoon salon in central Hong Kong offering complimentary Moveable Shape cuts. More pointedly, we summoned the most influential “Fashion Junkies” for their free cut, daring them to publicly trade their long locks for a dramatic new look. Upon taking up our offer, they became highly motivated brand advocates. When it came to standing out from the crowd, nothing topped the VS Sassoon “Fash Mob” -- 12 high fashion models marching to music around the salon exterior as cameras clicked, videos uploaded and mainstream media were drawn into the story. By promotion’s end, 2,200 consumers had taken home exclusive product samples, 80 major media stories had resulted, the blogosphere was coming to VS Sassoon, and the brand was enjoying a #1 Share of Voice against competitors.

The Brief

Get people talking. The goal was to utilize both traditional media and the fashion blogosphere’s powerful word-of-mouth to promote VS Sassoon’s Look of the Season and its relevant products. While success would be measured in media mentions and online engagement, the ultimate goal was to secure VS Sassoon top Share of Voice for the competitive Fall/Winter fashion season.

Results

The word on the street is VS Sassoon. • 560,000+ traffic visited the OOH pop-up salon structure in just eight days • 2,200+ consumers received exclusive designer product samples • 80+ stories of earned print and online media coverage, including blog posts by 13 influential star bloggers • Increase of more than 6,000 likes (a 40% increase) to the VS Sassoon HK Facebook page • Advertising value equivalency (HKD) 1,142,046+ • #1 Share of Voice against competitors, November – December, 2012

Execution

Be flashy. Be sensible. The agency rolled out a phased execution, seeding the new haircut as a trend via select fashion influencers in both traditional and digital media. When excitement peaked, we physically brought the concept to life, creating Hong Kong’s first VS Sassoon salon, offering free Moveable Shape hair styles to consumers. We also dared a dozen “fashion junkies” to publicly get their own Moveable Shape makeover, sending them out into the fashion world highly motivated to endorse the trend. Simultaneous promotions targeted social media feeds, fashion and lifestyle blogs and wattsapp profiles. A Fash Mob created the crowd-stopping and up-loaded scene of a dozen Moveable Shape fashion models parading the downtown Hong Kong streets outside the VS Sassoon salon. Just to be sure, we utilized a few high profile fashion leaders to secure credibility, influential fashion figures including Moveable Shape collaborators Mark Hayes and Alexander Wang, and two Greater China style icons famous enough to go by singular names, Pius and Dorothy.

The Situation

How to turn heads in Hong Kong. Global VS Sassoon was using the influential Hong Kong fashion scene to launch its Look of the Season, which was jointed created by VS Sassoon Creative Stylist Mark Hayes in collaboration with renowned fashion designer Alexander Wang. The launch would take place in a highly competitive and fast-moving marketplace, and target an audience segment –“Fashion Junkies” – defined as those who pride themselves on promoting only the hottest trends. Any publicity campaign would have to be relevant, dynamic and disruptive in order to stand out from the crowd and deliver results.

The Strategy

Give the fashion media their cut. Fashion consumers love to know what’s hot. But they don’t often take the word of the brand itself. The world of trends is largely driven by self-appointed “fashion junkies,” the people who passionately follow the industry, seek and identify trends, and pass along news and endorsements through traditional, and increasingly online viral formats. Our strategy was to identify the most influential figures in the Hong Kong fashion scene and make them part of the experience: the launch of VS Sassoon’s Look of the Season. Branded promotional events would be big, visual, stylish and disruptive, but behind every element of the campaign was a plan to inspire free buzz from the fashion streets.