GAP’S “BORN TO FIT” SOCIAL CAMPAIGN

The digital campaign for Gap’s 1969 Premium Jeans —‘Born to Fit’— marks a first in the fashion industry as Gap launches one of the most robust consumer experiences to-date using a range of social media platforms. By harnessing the most popular social media platforms, the ambitious digital campaign developed by AKQA aims to reach fashion leaders and fashionistas, Gap customers and even skeptics to encourage conversations around Gap’s reinvented line of jeans.

           

Facebook

Gap partnered with Facebook to transform its Fan Page into the ultimate jeans destination. Developed by AKQA, www.facebook.com/borntofit acts as the central hub for the campaign, where visitors can engage and express themselves. The interactivity encourages users to find their ideal 1969 Premium Jeans fit and includes:

• A Born to Share interactive gallery with pictures of Gap fans telling the world what they were born to do. Visitors can also participate by creating and uploading their own “born to” expression.
• A virtual, moving runway where fans can watch models sport each fit of jeans in three different ways. Visitors can also click through to Gap.com www.gap.com/> and purchase their favorite outfits.
• A Fit Spotlight where users can explore the jeans up close and hear commentary about each of the styles from Gap’s head designer, Patrick Robinson.
• A video of Rada Shadick , Gap's Fit Engineer, discussing the craftsmanship and details of the new jeans.      

Mobile StyleMixer iPhone App

Recognizing that Gap customers are often on the move, AKQA also developed a StyleMixer iPhone application. This social shopping tool enables users to mix and match clothes, find inspiration, get advice and more.  

StyleMixers can organize outfits, get feedback from Facebook friends and the iPhone StyleMixer community, take, upload and integrate images of clothes from their own closets and get ideas from other community members. Leveraging a relatively untapped iPhone technology, the app unlocks surprise offers when users are near a Gap store.

             

 “Our ‘Born to Fit’ digital campaign enables customers to get as close as possible to the jeans without actually touching or feeling them – it’s a way for them to experience the jeans digitally from our point of view. Then once they’ve had a chance to try the jeans on, we encourage them to come back to our ‘Born to Fit’ community to share their opinions, style tips or even create their own ‘Born to’ expression.” (Gap’s EVP of Marketing)

             

GAP’S SUPPORTING social CAST

Further opportunities for Gap customers to express themselves via social media are:

• Style advice video content and celebrity videos are available on YouTube.
• A Gap Twitter feed will keep followers up to date with tweets on celebrity encounters, exciting events, styling recommendations, and upcoming collections posted daily.
• The ‘Born to Fit’ campaign additionally partners with the influential fashion community, Polyvore, to bring to life the jeans in the style tips section.
• Rich media ads will run on NBC.com, Fox.com, the NYTimes.com, and the Glam and Sugar networks, with an exclusive launch partnership for Perez Hilton’s new fashion-related site, CocoPerez.com.

- -

Sign-up for this Blog's RSS feed (above) or join us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest news, info, and events from the world of social media marketing, PR 2.0, and digital branding. 

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROCESS

Process might sound a bit impersonal. We know though, that every project is different and we tailor them accordingly. Our Process was developed after multiple campaigns and striving to define ways measure the reach and business impact of each online activity.  This methodology was refined as an overarching means of extending a unified brand message across multiple channels in parallel, either as a standalone social media campaign or as an integrated marketing or public relations campaign.

1. CLARIFY OBJECTIVES + BUSINESS GOALS

Before embarking on any social media marketing campaigns, it is essential to set clear, quantifiable business goals and define your prospects and/or target audience. Without a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and whom you want to reach, your promotional campaigns will not be focused and the results may be fragmented and weak.

2. DEFINE + SELECT SOCIAL AUDIENCE

Define all traditional and non-traditional prospects, constituents, and influencers to ensure you extend a compelling, actionable brand experience.

3. AUDIT

Perform a thorough competitive social audit to ensure your brand is differentiated with a clear value proposition over competitors.

4. ARCHITECT

With a clear understanding of goals, objectives, audience, and competitors in place, a Social Content Distribution Strategy document is developed to define the intended execution path including choice of tools, channel selection, media, resources, lifecycle, methodology, Integration, and metrics.

5. IMPLEMENT + AMPLIFY

We’ve learned a little momentum goes a long way in optimizing reach online.  Ensure any first-time initiative has a formal launch + PR amplification piece (minimally) for maximum results.  

6. AUDIENCE MONITORING + ENGAGEMENT 

7. MEASUREMENT OF RESULTS

We’ve learned a little momentum goes a long way in optimizing reach online.  Ensure any first-time initiative has a formal launch + PR amplification piece (minimally) for maximum results.  

- -

Sign-up for this Blog's RSS feed (above) or join us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest news, info, and events from the world of social media marketing, PR 2.0, and digital branding. 

ON THE MERITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media differentiates itself from other media by being both actionable and participatory.  It simultaneously allows brands an opportunity to listen, collaborate, communicate, educate, and entertain. While any given creative, campaign, or promotion may have a limited lifecycle---social media is ongoing.  

It is also the only consistent variable across all media platforms and initiatives from year to year building a constituency while extending a sense of community, belonging and identification.  More important is that it evidences to the world an interest in corporate transparency and accountability. 

As Marketers, to appropriately support these objectives, we should therefore look to:

1. Support, extend and amplify all ongoing campaigns, promotions and brand activities using social tools,
2. Build and foster ongoing (long-term) brand communities.

 Looking to get started?  Feel free to use our Process Model as a framework.  

Have questions?  Send us an email. ;)

GUINNESS' ADDS TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION TO ITS LONG-STANDING ASSOCIATION WITH RUGBY

Back at the start of 2009, Contagious featured a piece on Guinness' quiet development of RFID technology in association with ball manufacturers Gilbert and the technological whiz kids at the Fraunhofer Institute in Nuremberg.  The innovation, conceived by Red Urban in London, saw an RFID chip placed in rugby balls and sensors situated around rugby pitches which can monitor players and the ball itself to log a startling number of statistics such as accuracy of passes and strength of tackles. Potentially, Guinness and its fans would have access to a vast amount of data that could have a huge affect on enhancing the game itself.

A year later, Contagious updates that it looks like the innovation is coming to the fore in an interactive hub and TV spot entitled Area 22, directed by Rory Kelleher and produced by Company Films, Dublin and Believe Media, London. The spot shows a futuristic rugby training ground and concludes with a link driving viewers to Area 22, a site hosting a plethora of rugby information including an iPhone app that aggregates different rugby news feeds, a pub finder that uses google maps and a rugby kicking game. A Facebook Fan site for Irish Rugby supporters has the option to send gifts of team jerseys to friends, (and has gathered some 4,000+ fans to date).

The site will also be filled with stats thanks to the new technology, when Ireland starts its Six Nations campaign in February. The campaign was conceived by IIBBDO, Dublin.  All this, of course, is still a prelude to the Rugby World Cup in 2011, when we expect to see Guinness' sponsorship and long established brand association with the sport become seriously mainstream. 

http://www.contagiousmagazine.com/

Martin Lindstrom | Moments of Brand Zen | January

easier, faster and more relevant

Nothing has made access to brands easier, faster and relevant to consumers than technology.  GPS-based messaging by NTT Docomo in Japan takes it to a whole new level. Their LBS (location Based System) pinpoints and suggest shops, restaurants and whatever else you may require – to within 50 meters of your location – wherever you are! For consumers, the real rewards are contextual and relevant messages that recognize who you are, where you are and what you need – all the right moment.   Watch Video 

using sex to market your brand

If you’re planning on using sex to market your brand and get consumers to engage, you’d best be prepared for what comes next. When clothing and accessories retail giant XOXO decided to parade 2 sexy young women in a 5th avenue window around peak Christmas shopping time, it seemed they knew just what they were doing. Or did they? It’s risky business using sex as a means of luring consumers in to your brand, for the simple reason that inevitably it is not the sex that’s working for the brand, but the hype being caused. In this video I examine this precise issue, looking at some of the do’s and don’ts when heading down risqué promotional avenues.  Watch Video

For the Love of Tim

Forget Wayne Gretsky, Celine Dion and Dan Akroyd. Canada’s hottest new export to its southern neighbors is Tim Horton. This is a Canadian success story (2,700 stores coast-to-coast) that has carved out a niche in a market that is neither fast food, nor specialist coffee either. What is it then?  Watch Video

SUBWAY GOING GREEN

The recent Tokyo Designer week, which integrates the aspirations of design, technology and the environment in one show, and which provides a sneak preview of the future, left visitors with one powerful impression – brands will not survive if they cannot demonstrate real environmental support.  Watch Video

Viral Marketing Put to the Test

Explains how the strategy of spreading a video to as many popular video websites as possible.   The results? It was quickly available on 400 websites, including 70 versions on YouTube alone.  Watch Video

Viral marketing strategy?

Did you know that today only 5% of the global brands have a viral marketing strategy?  Three things have to be present to build at powerful viral video: First of all it needs a talking point, a content that makes people talk about it, secondly it has to be a bit sensational and cross the line that makes it too extreme to be shown on TV, viral videos belongs to the Internet. Finally it has to have a "soap" element around it, so the target group can get their video-input on a regular base, and it is only an advantage if the video contains humour, irony and sarcasm as a part of the message.  Watch Video