We know major fashion houses will spend millions on campaigns to keep their brand front and centre in the minds of their audiences, often to great effect, but it’s not always about major out-of-home campaigns and mega budgets.
From excellent use of influencers, social media and trends to making sustainable or humanitarian stances, there are plenty of ways for brands to walk the red carpet of marketing wins.
Out-of-home and off the charts
A favourite of some of the biggest brands is the ‘wow’ approach, and nothing says it like huge, imposing products or campaigns in major cities.
Prompting gasps, photos, shares and conversation, it’s pretty hard to ignore a huge billboard, or a giant handbag-sized building — like this from Marc Jacobs in September 2023. The fashion mega-brand promoted its legendary tote bag with a prime location, giant inflatable handbag on NYC’s Ludlow Street.
This isn’t the first time giant luggage has made a fashion statement. Louis Vuitton has been known to shroud major streets in huge cases and bags too, as they famously did on Paris’ Champs-Élysées in February 2024.
Whilst Louis Vuitton’s tremendously large trunk did attract activists who draped a huge ‘tax the rich’ banner, big statement campaigns like this do work, it seems. An estimated 26% of customers have visited a branded website in direct response to seeing an out-of-home advert.
So this approach turns heads, but big fashion brands don’t need lead generation, they are built on legacy, equity, word of mouth and being aspirational - but this their impact is shared, reshared, used as the backdrop for hungry influencers and their place in the fashion discourse further enhanced - even if it’s not all positive.
Whilst the Louis Vuitton example shows that many people were not best pleased with what they considered an eye-sore on a landmark street, the conversation happened anyway, and the pictures were taken — so the brand secures its place at every table, whether those people are customers or not.
Your ad or campaign does not have to be on this scale, but the real trick is to make it an experience. Start-ups are using bus shelters and billboards to the same ends — as long as attention is captured, out-of-home can work for varying sizes of brand, and budgets can be well spent in the right place. Take Wonderbra’s ‘Boobs! I broke the glass’ bus shelter ad campaign, a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek offering.
Put a face to the name
It might be easier for the major players to secure a big name to showcase their next launch. Famous faces bring legions of fans to every ad — we’ve seen it time and time again. Capitalising on pop-culture to sell products is not new, and is always effective.
Recent major campaigns have snagged K-Pop megastars like Jungkook appearing for Calvin Klein and Paul Mescal for Gucci…
Some of the most famous ever include a young Kate Moss appearing for Calvin Klein in 1992, or the likes of David Beckham appearing in H&M’s 2012 underwear campaign. These iconic images endure even now. But what can small and medium-sized brands do?
The constant growth of digital marketing and influencers makes this approach more accessible than ever. Sure, you might not see Becks modelling for a small brand based in Huddersfield (never say never, ey?), but that same brand can now work with an array of influencers (including micro influencers) at various levels and price points to bring a face to the name, send trust signals and increase awareness.
If you’re a smaller clothing brand, there are still plenty of micro influencers to tap into and collaborate with. The tag British Fashion Influencer has over 23.8m posts on TikTok, meaning people are working and searching for this on the platform — with excellent results.
Even the mega brands like Gucci are embracing relatable, TikTok-friendly content to ensure they find their audiences at every touch point. This includes partnerships with famous faces and a host of influencers too — remember the collab they did with Tiktok’s favourite trainspotter, Francis Bourgeois?
Even those not shopping with a Gucci budget were flocking to see the collab in action - the content remains aspirational, inspirational and shareable. It's a win all round.
For more strategic insights and top tips on harnessing TikTok, don’t miss our blog about how the platform is changing the fashion industry.
Stand for something
A major conversation piece in every sector, but especially fashion right now, is the matter of sustainability and ethics. How a brand takes a stand, behaves in times of political and economic unrest can say a lot and can dramatically impact who will engage with and support them.
Fashion holds power, it can be a mirror for society and our connection to the world around us, much like art. Therefore, the right campaigns can deeply impact the consumer and spread viral messages.
“People like to downplay fashion advertising as frivolous fantasy or only focus on its negatives, but these are images that have the power to both comment on and change our cultural landscape.”
Oliver Toscani, appointed as the brand’s art director in 1982, elevated the social commentary around fashion with a number of hard-hitting campaigns that showed multi-race, same gender couples with adopted children. He also featured people with AIDS in hospital beds and tackled the Gulf War through ads that still featured the bold, colour clothes, but spoke much louder about social injustice.
In the current climate, as well as sustainability in production, methods, and fair wages, consumers are watching for brands that participate in changing the narrative on important issues such as inclusivity, gender diversity, accessibility and more.
According to a survey, 40% of UK consumers struggle to find items in their size and many said they can’t picture themselves in advertised clothes because of the lack of diversity amongst the models. This leads up perfectly into a dive into fast-growing brand, Snag Tights, which is making waves with its diverse and inclusive ads. They are changing the hosiery game by showing a host of sizes, shapes and ages in its ads, as well as promoting a sustainable and ethical supply chain.
Big brands are there too. Paris Fashion week closed its Spring/Summer 24 show with a collection from Duran Latink, famed for his gender-fluid fashion. And while gender diversity and fluidity is big news for the runway, we’re also seeing major brands like Nike and Sephora utilise trans and non-binary models, to declare their products and brand a safe and welcoming space for all.
Whether you’re focusing on accessibility, gender diversity or social inclusion, brands can meet varying diversity needs and interests by engaging with their consumers, paying attention to their interests, styles and social issues. It’s part of a wider trend of humanising your brand.
Fashion moves quickly, but marketing even more so. If you want to stay on trend, our talented team of digital marketers are only a message away through the button below.
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Amy joined in 2014 to set up our Content department. She now heads up a growing Brand and Content team, utilising over 13 years’ experience to deliver brand awareness through targeted, multi-channel copy. As well as engaging content for websites and blogs, Amy delivers PR strategies and tone of voice exploration, helping clients to communicate the purpose and values of their brand with maximum impact.
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