Client: Britannic Money and Russell Sage
PR Team: Lansons Communications and Modus Publicity
Campaign: Britannic Money Dress
Timescale: January - ongoing
Budget: £70,000
When flexible mortgage provider First Active decided to rebrand as
Britannic Money, it asked its retained PR agency, Lansons
Communications, for support.
As the name change was due to coincide with London Fashion Week (LFW) in
February, Lansons decided that Britannic should sponsor a young British
designer.
Russell Sage, known for his innovation and involvement with challenging
fabrics, was identified as a suitable partner, and his PR agency, Modus
Publicity, agreed. As part of the sponsorship deal, Britannic lent Sage
£10,000 in £50 and £20 notes with which to create
three garments, including a Britannic Money Dress.
Objectives
Britannic Money wanted to raise awareness of its new identity and
position itself as a dynamic brand among a target market of affluent
people living in the south-east. In addition, it wanted to increase
sales of its current account mortgage.
Sage wanted to raise his profile with a similar audience and position
himself at the cutting-edge by creating a headline-grabbing debut at
LFW.
Strategy and Plan
To ensure that the money dress was seen as a piece of conceptual art and
not a PR stunt, a series of money garments were designed and fashion
theorist Judith Watt was commissioned to provide comment for a press
pack.
To create awareness of Britannic Money at the fashion show, the PR team
homed in on pink, the financial provider's corporate colour. Journalists
received pink dried flowers and pink champagne was served on the night,
to match the Britannic branding on the catwalk.
Modus was instrumental in the planning and production of the show and
handled all the fashion and broadcast media. This resulted in a maximum
attendance of 350 journalists, including more than 40 film crews and
photographers.
Directly after the show, three TV crews and six influential fashion
journalists went backstage for interviews. These included International
Herald Tribune fashion director Suzy Menkes and The Daily Telegraph
fashion director Hilary Alexander.
Measurement and Evaluation
According to PR planning and research specialist Metrica, media coverage
reached 17.3 million adults, hitting 43 per cent of all people in London
and the south-east and 40 per cent of those in the A and B
socio-economic groups.
Sage achieved the sixth largest volume of coverage during LFW of any
designer, while demand for his collection outstripped his capacity to
supply.
Six weeks after launch, an Omnibus survey by BMRB revealed that
awareness of Britannic Money had increased by 72 per cent among 30 to
50-year-olds.
Results
This campaign was a big success for all concerned, providing a real
boost to Sage's profile and taking Britannic where few financial brands
have trodden before, namely Vogue, Elle, The Sunday Times' Style section
and even Country Life.
In August, the money dress was donated to the Victoria and Albert museum
and further PR activity is expected this December, when the money jacket
and money skirt go under the hammer at Sotheby's Passion for Fashion
auction.
