Fashion marketers often talk about the power of the press in boosting product sales and brand recognition. Ragtrader asked Sweaty Betty PR founder Roxy Jacenko to document one marketing initiative which secured both.
Our company constantly monitors overseas fashion trends – and when we got word that US retailers were manufacturing boots for larger legs (I picked up on this on a recent trip to the US) we brought the angle to Australia.
We pitched the idea to Channel 9’s A Current Affair programme, linking it back to our footwear client Diana Ferrari.
Diana Ferrari had just created boots for larger legs, and this product was included in its latest collection with no fanfare or product launch. The boots were due to drop in stores in a month [March] and take up was expected to be in line with the rest of the collection.
Within 24 hours of my call to A Current Affair, two camera crews were dispatched – one to Diana Ferrari’s flagship Victoria store to capture plus-size models trying on the boots – the other to Sweaty Betty PR to record my fashion commentary on the topic.
With an afternoon’s filming wrapped up, the segment aired aired five days later on a Monday evening - the biggest day for A Current Affair and in most watched slot of the show.
As well as this, we had the boots and relevant details listed on the A Current Affair website. Television is the absolute pinnacle of all press coverage and you can see why - there’s already a waiting list for the featured boots.
The package, which aired in early February 2010, can be viewed at http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1007589