2015 Gold Retail

Leo Burnett London

The Outnet

Sergio the Shoe Hunter

The Team

Scott Bradley - Executive Creative Director, Sarah Baumann - Managing Director, Eleni Chalmers - Director of Strategy, Hollie Belton - Art Director, Amy Hancock - Account Director, Joanna Charalambous - Project Manager, Janine Quatrevingt - Senior Global Marketing Manager, Laura Gabriele - Partnerships Executive, Andres Sosa - Director of Global Sales & Marketing, Aaron McFeely - Strategist,

Contributors

Treve Jackson Hicks - Film Maker - Director and Editor

Campaign Overview

THE OUTNET sells previous season fashion at a discount. It was an outsider in the elite fashion world but had ambitious growth plans.

This campaign significantly multiplied THE OUTNET’s brand awareness, sales, KPIs and social activity, demonstrating that a small brand can break into the big fashion league using a brilliant low-budget idea.

Strategy

To attract women who love designer fashion, THE OUTNET needed to make its mark as an innovative fashion player – and there is nowhere better to do this than London Fashion Week, observed with passion by THE OUTNET’s prospective customers.

As a relatively unknown entity with limited resource, the brand knew it needed to avoid playing the serious and prohibitively expensive fashion editorial game. Instead, it looked to create a stand-out experiential idea that suited THE OUTNET’s positioning as the happy hunting ground of the style huntress.

Lacking invitations into the shows, the team focused on the drama and style action outside, around the attendees, developing a social media- friendly concept that would appeal to fashion influencers as well as shoppers.

Creativity

Focusing on shoes, THE OUTNET’s core category, the team created an unusual style hunter: Sergio the Shoe Hunter, a 9-inch miniature dachshund. He was too small to see the catwalk but perfectly placed to sniff the best shoe styles on the attending fashionistas.

A week before Fashion Week THE OUTNET sent a teaser video to fashion influencers, introducing their new guest reporter. At the opening of fashion week, armed with a GoPro camera on his back, Sergio trotted through the crowds, picking out the best shoes on display. He posted his daily highlights on his microsite, while THE OUTNET’s on-the-ground crew matched his picks with shoes available on their site.

Invitations from the super-influential flooded in, with Sergio going for tea at Sketch with American Express and even becoming Rosie Londoner’s date for a party at Boujis.

Results