Dec 13, 2008

Mktg - Lee Cooper promotes discrimination by design

Kapil Ohri

Lee Cooper, the denim wear brand, has created a special microsite called LcClan.in.com targeted at the Indian youth.

The microsite, which is an extension of Lee Cooper’s current print and outdoor campaign, was created to provide a platform for the youth to come together and create a community of consumers who believe in the Lee Cooper philosophy of discrimination by design.

What's the Lee Cooper philosophy, which has been extended from the ad campaign to its microsite? Ameet Panchal, chief executive officer, Lee Cooper India, tells afaqs!, “Lee Cooper believes in the ideology of discrimination based on design, style and fashion, and not by sex, caste or creed. The campaign is aimed at the identification, segregation and exposure of cool youth from those who are not cool. We believe that stylish and fashionable people will prevail in society.”


Panchal adds, “The idea behind discrimination by design is based on consumer insights which indicated that discrimination still exists in society as people are often judged by what they wear and the brands they use.” In just 10 days of its launch, around 1,100 consumers have already joined the website or online community.

Is there any point in creating a community of users who just believe in wearing stylish clothes? The brand is not running the microsite just to inform its target audience about its brand philosophy or brand history. Instead, it is trying to build an engagement with its TG and acquaint users with its brand philosophy of discrimination by running a month long contest.

Users who join the Lee Cooper website can upload and share their photos and videos in stylish clothes. Once uploaded, other users can judge the images or videos and vote for the ones they think are the most stylish.

Interestingly, the contest will not end with the voting process on the microsite. The apparel brand has plans to take the contest offline. It will select the users who get the most votes and ask them to provide inputs to Lee Cooper designers. A special range of denim wear, including jeans and jackets, will be manufactured based on their inputs. The range will be displayed and be available for sale in major stores across India.

The contest is not aimed at fashion designers per se and the company is targeting the microsite and the contest at youth in the age group of 16-35 years who wear denim.

The microsite will be promoted through online banner ads on social networking sites such as Facebook.com and Orkut.com and on horizontal portals such as Yahoo!, Rediff.com and MSN.com. Email marketing will also be used. The URL of the microsite will be promoted at various display points at Lee Cooper retail stores and on print and outdoor campaigns.

The microsite has been hosted on In.com and developed by a team from In.com along with McCann Erickson Mumbai, Lee Cooper's creative agency.

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