The Brief

The world of men’s fashion in Colombo is dominated by big menswear and department stores. With Father’s Day coming up, small scale menswear retailer Emerald required a campaign to increase sales during this period. With an existing customer base that was a fraction of the competition, the campaign would need to appeal to both existing and potential customers. The strategy was very simple. Make Emerald stand out from the crowd.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Deriving from the strategy of creating a campaign that would make Emerald stand out from the crowd, the creative solution was to move further than merely creating a unique campaign, but create a unique offering to customers. The insight was that while a shirt is the most common gift for Father’s Day, it is also the most impersonal. Thus, the creative solution sought to transform the shirt from something so impersonal and commonplace to something unique, personal and relevant to the target audience.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Made available in stores on 7th June, the Wishing Shirts were sold out by Father's Day (15th June). In addition, the campaign resulted in a 15% increase in number of fans of the Emerald Facebook Page between the campaign launch date (2nd June) and Father's Day, with thousands of people talking about the brand on social media. (Source: Facebook) The promotion also caught the interest of several online and print media in Sri Lanka. Most importantly, the campaign helped turn the most impersonal gift into a most personal one.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Being a menswear store, the creative execution of the use of a shirt and its packing materials was extremely relevant to the brand. In Sri Lanka, fathers are known to not express their emotions. Any outward show of emotion (even with their children) is not the norm. Thus, the execution allowed children to tell their fathers how they felt in a manner that was unobtrusive and personal. The creative execution was further made relevant to the target audience through the individual messages related to the father’s heart, shoulders and hands on the packing materials closest to the same.