The Campaign

We created Fargo Woollens. A not-so-cute collection of jumpers, mittens, and beanies which were available online in exchange for a NEON subscription. Like the show, the range was delightfully wholesome at first glance, darkly twisted upon closer inspection. To reach this niche local audience we invited the biggest players in New Zealand’s pop culture, fashion and music industries to our fashion launch and live photo shoot. We then sent them their very own piece of the gruesome knitwear, which they shared with their own fan bases. Fashion brands have a long history of embracing large format outdoor, so to unveil our knitwear range to the public, we found the biggest digital site in the country. The fans loved it, NEON had record subscriptions and the range sold out.

Creative Execution

We wanted the garments to do justice to the carefully crafted nature of the show itself, so attention to detail was king. We made sure every facet of the garments was designed to reflect Fargo’s twisted themes. Everything from the swing tags, to the washing instructions and even the shovels, ice picks and guns that made up the knitted patterns. Two leading New Zealand knitwear companies conspired to help us create the Woollens, Remar Knitwear looked after the base garment pattern detail, while The Textile Collective added the gory embellishments. The injuries on the knitwear needed to be “readable” enough to photograph well, which would help them be shared online. The pieces also needed to have enough Fargo-esque embellishments to stand up to closer inspection once our influencers and our fans got the garments in their hands.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

As soon as fans got the garments in their hands, they then did exactly what we hoped they’d do. They took to social media with photos of themselves wearing their Fargo Woollens and talking up Fargo, Season 2 and NEON in the same breath. The coveted knits helped NEON generate conversation in the right places, record subscriptions, and a credibility that’s hard to put a price on. Through shared posts from the launch alone, we were able to reach the equivalent of half the adult population of New Zealand. Fargo, Season 2 premièred to NEON’s largest audience to date, NEON subscriptions were up 55% on Fargo, Season 1 and like all good fashion lines... the range sold out.

To grab the attention of such a digitally savvy audience, you need to do something different. Like a low-tech product. And it doesn’t get more low-tech than knitted jumpers. So, to help get the range in front of this audience we invited the biggest players in New Zealand’s pop culture, fashion and music industries to our fashion launch, complete with a live fashion shoot. We held the launch at the HQ of renowned streetwear label, Huffer. And the darkly twisted nature of the range, meant influencers were only too happy to share photos of themselves modelling it. We then sent them their very own piece of the gruesome knitwear line, which they shared in more detail with their fan bases. Once fans heard about Fargo Woollens from sources they admired, and found out a subscription to NEON was the currency…they wanted in.