Campaign Shows the Modern Face of Fur
The International Fur Federation (IFF) has developed a global fashion campaign to communicate the modern face of fur and to break down stereotypes around what fur is and who wears it.The mainly digital push named #FURNOW, includes social media, blogger outreach, video, mobile and gifs designed with a view to go viral. The campaign also includes print media targeting leading fashion titles in key global markets. The focus on digital communications represents a significant departure for the industry which has tended to rely on traditional above the line media.
The campaign is built around images of men and women wearing beautiful, contemporary fur items in eye- catching, sometimes surprising ways, all designed for sharing online. Fur is a key trend in the 2014 autumn/winter collections and the campaign channels this ‘right for now’ zeitgeist.
Sitting at the heart of the drive is a high energy, fast-paced one minute video showing a collection of diverse fur looks in bright colors on male and female models dancing to Para One feat Jaw – When the Night. The video opens with a model wearing large black fur headphones, followed by a shot of a fur-trimmed clutch bag that quickly switches to a purple hooded jacket. Other unusual fur items include a fur baseball outfit including fur epaulettes, kneepads and glove; a male dancer wearing fur slippers and matching cuffs; a model sporting a pair of iconic fur lined glasses and a bearded hipster with a fur parka and fur-trimmed pipe. The video closes with a sequence of shots with the campaign title, ‘Fur Now’ on different colored fur backgrounds.
Two of the most influential fashion bloggers behind the scene on the day of the shoot, Bryan Boy (www.bryanboy.com) and Gala Gonzalez (www.amlul.com) used their social media platforms to push out comments and pictures of their experience to generate interest in the campaign and fur more broadly amongst their huge audience of followers. Just one ‘selfie’ posted by Bryan Boy wearing a purple hooded Kenzo jacket used in the shoot generated 7,678 likes. IFF also saw over three million impressions of the hashtag #furnow during the two days of the shoot and generated over 50,000 likes on instagram over the same period.
The media plan, which is predominantly digital, mobile and social, includes Conde Nast’s Vogue Italy website; Style.com – including a home page takeover and sponsorship of its weekly newsletter; and Vogue US mobile. The video will also run on YouTube.
Commenting on the campaign, Mark Oaten, CEO, IFF said: “In recent times, fur has changed beyond belief. New techniques and innovations have brought bright colors and lighter garments that appeal to consumers young and old, male and female. Our campaign aims to communicate this contemporary face of fur in a fun, upbeat way.
“Communicating this new face of fur required a radical rethink of the type of campaign approach we chose. This is why for the first time we have gone firmly down the digital/social media route. The luxury sector has traditionally been slow to this type of media, and fur has perhaps been later to the party than many in this space. However the share-able, viral and conversational nature of digital and social media means it is the best choice to communicate the new and modern face of fur and to generate global buzz and interest in the way fur is evolving.”
