Our challenge was to increase awareness of the new menswear brand ‘Racing Green’ at Debenhams, placing the retailer front of mind amongst shoppers.
Analysis of data pertaining to shopper behaviour, supported by anecdotal employee experience, revealed that half the purchases in the menswear department of Debenhams are in fact made by women.
Inspired by this insight, a robust research led strategy was developed, exploring not only how many wives and girlfriends shop for their partner but also how many have advised them to change their outfit on a night out, as well as how many even taken a lead role in packing for their partner before a holiday to ensure a satisfactory sartorial style.
Socialite and traveller Ben Fogle was identified as an influencer of the core Debenhams menswear target audience (men and women) and recruited as brand ambassador. Given his extensive broadcast experienced, he proved to be a suitable third party spokesperson to take part in interviews promoting both Debenhams and Racing Green.
The “who wears… and buys the trousers in your relationship” approach appealed to a broad demographic, so with just a little tailoring – excuse the pun – was effectively sold into both BBC and commercial news and feature programming across the UK.
Quantitative analysis of the interviews revealed an hour and 20 minutes of editorial broadcast coverage for the campaign, worth an advertising equivalent of x4 investment, reaching an audience of >4.2m adults.
Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed significant levels of key message deliver throughout, as well as a positive sentiment from influential broadcasters, notably with BBC Devon, BBC Lancashire, BBC Cambridge and BFBS.