Challenge

Reliant on a B2B2C business model, Lycra® maintained brand awareness in China by sponsoring high-profile consumer events. However, it was time to reinvest in the brand by enhancing awareness in order to improve in-depth understanding and capture B2B partner opportunities through a communication-driven approach.

Denim was identified as the focus of the campaign with 25-35 year-old females targeted in Shanghai and Guangzhou for their ability to influence, fashion nous and purchasing power. Research found this group looks for opportunities to express their inner self, be free and pursue what they want, despite societal pressures and challenges.

Solution

With Lycra®’s brand essence communicating freedom of movement and denim being its symbol of youth and liberation, we conceptualized the Free Your Body, Liberate Your Mind campaign. At the core was an experiential event incorporating interactive areas that liberated people’s minds: a one-way transparent fitting room; a magic mirror; an upside-down office; 3D painting; and a Wii game. Social media outreach shared user generated content and KOLs, influencers and media were leveraged to maximize reach. To amplify buzz, a Vogue collaboration included the distribution of a Lycra-focused denim fashion booklet, supported by advertising.

Results

The campaign strengthened partnerships with seven international denim brands with the Vogue collaboration and three domestic brands for offline events. The experiential events engaged 700,000+ consumers and an onsite survey revealed that 67% expressed intent to purchase Lycra® denim. On social media, the campaign achieved a first WeChat push open rate of 156% and almost 20,000 netizens participated in Weibo event recruitment drive. 116,200+ Weibo comments/forwards were generated via KOLs and popular accounts. A pre-movie advertisement was viewed 4,607,052 times with 15,000 click-through to Lycra® Weibo account.