The Campaign

In Australia, the premium suit market is dominated by global brands that aggressively promote their international prestige. As a relatively new, local menswear company, our client M.J. Bale was at a significant disadvantage. With low awareness and low brand recognition we were low on the consideration list. But, we knew that over 50% of our suits are sold to members of the banking and finance industry. And if there’s one thing those guys crave, it’s POWER. So, our challenge was to make them feel more powerful in our suits than any of our competitors could. With a history of innovation and complete control of all the processes and raw materials by which M.J. Bale make their suits, we got the brand to do something far more powerful. We wove a contactless payment chip and antenna previously only found in credit cards into the suit sleeves and in collaboration with Visa and Heritage Bank, took it to the masses. Our PR launch strategy was to offer carefully selected influencers, an exclusive chance to trial the suit technology first and in person. We focused on vertical media segments (fashion, technology, banking) to gain credibility in those communities before expanding wider. Each influencer could then share their own experience of wearing the suit with their own followers, listeners, readers and viewers. Rather than trying to generate PR from an existing product, we invented a brand new one and in turn, started an international conversation about wearable technology that gentlemen would actually wear.

The Brief

50% of our suit sales were to men working in the finance industry. In order to expand our reach, our goal was to partner with like-minded brands (from the banking industry) to upscale investment in the idea and gain access to their own databases and sell those customers suits, whilst integrating the most appealing features of their world (contactless payment technology) into our suits. Then, we could start a bigger conversation about wearable technology, fashion, banking and the future of those three industries. Success would mean being on the cutting edge of Australian men’s fashion and substantially lifting brand awareness.

Results

In only its first week since launch we’ve achieved: 100% uptake on first round of suits offered. 171,000,000 earned media impressions. 120+ stories including TV features on the NBC Today Show, Australian Channels 7, 9 and 10 plus global coverage from Yahoo! News, CNET, Gizmodo, IT Wire, International Business Times and PSFK, all linking back to M.J Bale’s website. We started by engaging 10 key influencers to trial the suits, spearheaded by Executive Style, a print and online hub targeting finance professionals. The Power Suit created genuine desire for the brand and led an international conversation about stylish wearable technology.

Execution

To launch the innovation, we created a short web film based on the insight that the world’s most powerful men don’t carry a wallet, and with the Power Suit, Australian men could now join their ranks. Vertical media segments in fashion, technology and banking kick-started the conversation around our invention. By allowing them to trial the suit themselves, we were able to secure lengthy features on national TV with reporters filmed buying items like champagne and flowers whilst wearing the suit. Key influencers became our free media channels by creating editorial content around the suit. Our banking partner, Heritage Bank, launched their own promotion for the Power Suit that enabled us to reach their high net-worth clients as well as being the lead brand on their own consumer PR campaign. It was a collaborative, mutually beneficial PR partnership.

The Situation

In Australia, the premium suit market is dominated by international brands promoting their prestige. Our local client, M.J. Bale, suffered low awareness and low brand recognition. 50% of our suits are sold to members of the banking and finance industry. And if there’s one thing those guys crave, it’s POWER. We had to make them feel more powerful in our suits than any of our competitors could. With a history of innovation and complete control of our provenance, we did something far more powerful, to invent an entirely new product that we knew would create a wealth of PR.

The Strategy

Our PR strategy was to offer carefully selected influencers, an exclusive chance to trial the suit technology first and in person. We focused on vertical media segments (fashion, technology and banking) to gain credibility in those communities before expanding wider. Each influencer could then share their own experience of wearing the suit with followers, listeners, readers and viewers. It was their opinions, which made the messaging within each article so strong. The suits were made available in-store and as part of a Heritage Bank competition, allowing anyone to own one of the world’s most powerful suits.