Request For Proposal:

A[P]SOTW

Full RFP downloadable from: http://robcampbell.wordpress.com/

Marketing Objective

• want to be cool…• With the influencer set, or, “the social

lubricants” (SL’s)• SL’s are male/female 18-24 and are the center

of their particular networks

Why the Social Lubricants?

• SL’s represent only a fraction of the market• But SL’s influence the population• ‘Cool’ among SL’s:

1. Good for brand2. Good sales driver• Directly: SL direct purchase• Indirectly: Word-of-mouth purchase as a result of SL

purchase

So what do SL’s think of ?

Our research* revealed two broad responses:

• “I’d totally wear H&M if it was a kewl collab”• “H&M is really good for stockin’ up on basics”

*Please see handout for methodology and results

Uh Oh … Something is missing

• SL’s will not admit to wearing H&M unless it’s a “kewl collab” (translation: ‘A Good Collaboration’, eg. H&M x Versace; H&M x Marni)

• SL’s will wear unbranded H&M items as ‘support pieces’ to other (presumably cooler) brands.

Why is this such a problem?

• A refresher on SL’s: They are a valuable demographic because they1. Are good for Brand2. Drive indirect sales3. Account for direct sales

• However – The 1st and 2nd benefits are only realized if SL’s visibly wear H&M (or can at lease admit to wearing it!)

To make matters worse…

• When SL’s do admit to wearing a H&M basic, in over 80% of cases* they say:• “Its only from H&M…”• “This is just from H&M…”

• In effect: H&M is a ‘dirty little secret’ among SL’s

So…

Key Behavioral Objective for SL’s

• Is not (just) that they continue to shop at H&M…

We want their network to know they are shopping at H&M

• COMMS Objective: Make SL’s vocal about H&M by launching a H&M Basketball Shoe

So what are these SL’s vocal about?

• UNIQUE: They have highly curated wardrobes. What they wear is a reflection of their personality (which is unique …drrr). That means vintage, home-made, offshore brands, designer samples, home-modified.

• SMALL: They admire the artisanal and a culture of craft. Small is beautiful.

• LIMITED: They don’t want other SL’s from different networks cramping their style. Their wardrobe (like their iPhone on a Friday night) is difficult to access.

So why the disconnect with H&M?

• SL’s seek unique, small and limited in supply• H&M is perceived as generic, large and mass-

produced• Hmmm… H&M can’t directly reverse the

taste’s of SL’s, but can H&M speak to these tastes without changing their business model?

• We believe so…

Disclaimer:

We sincerely apologize for coining this horrible term you are about to hear and promise to never use it outside of this presentation.

Ever.

‘Microllaborations’

• Find 100 small design houses, • At least one from each of H&M’s 44 markets• Let them design their own color & fabric

scheme• For the one-and-only: Basketball shoe

Why Microllaborations?

Eh…?

• If H&M wants to talk to SL’s they need to do it via the trusted editorial sources that SL’s already listen to

• H&M does not need to talk directly to SL’s about H&M when the ‘trend elite’ are doing it for them

• Rather than use direct PR spend, H&M can utilize the existing PR networks of the worlds most interesting and influential small designers

So who are these trend elite?

Must be a small, privately-owned company (<50 employee’s) and will be assessed according to:• Strength of established/‘Cult’ following locally and

internationally• Strength of established PR network/channels

• With online and print fashion publications• Fashion power-bloggers• Facebook subscriber network and private email database• Proven Relationships with Stylists and Celebrity brand-

ambassadors• Designers are themselves the “trend elite” in their community

and of some relevance to global fashion community

But how to incentivize the trend elite?

• Glory: The H&M Basketball Shoe marketplace becomes a race to the point of sold out. The 100 design’s will unveiled on a microsite hosted at hm.com. The site will track the sales progress of each design.

• Aim is to create a kind of ‘Fashion Olympics’ and the first designer to sell-out their stock of 10,000 pairs wins. And in case glory is not enough…

• Gold: To go with that Gold (ie. Cash Prize Money)

So what sort of media buys will make?

• None. The whole point of this campaign is to allow the Designers to speak about H&M themselves.

And what sort of PR guidelines willenforce?

• None. The whole point of this campaign is to allow the Designers to speak about H&M themselves.

Rather…

• will rely upon the production ingenuity and established network pull of its collaborators… Each contestant will produce their own lookbook & content that they will communicate themselves. Creativity and hustle are encouraged!

• And all of these real world placements can be centralized at hm.com to create a PR livefeed

• And at a moderated instagram account • Note that none of the media placements in this

‘scrapbook of cache’ will not cost H&M anything.

And the best part…

• After having H&M’s first basketball shoe immortalized by 100 cutting edge designers, we are left with a single iconic product

• The Basketball shoe• And the option to renew the campaign by

creating a waiting list for other young budding designers…

So in a nutshell…

• will leverage its global relevance in order to gain small designer’s local ‘cool’.

• will not tell SL’s that it is cool but let others do it for them via the worlds most enviable, credible and relevant PR networks.

• will scale the artisanal to industrial proportions and utilize the advantages of both.

Nicki Minaj wears Romance Was Born for free