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To leverage its rights at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (#MBFW), which ran from 6 to 13 February, the premium auto maker activated around the theme of ‘street style’ focusing on its unique, brand-backed installation featuring photography by renowned street style photographer Youngjun Koo.
The German car giant had activation twin objectives – one general and one specific – for its work around the 2014 fall Collections.
Firstly it aimed to consolidate its ongoing strategy behind its fashion week partnerships which reinforces its own position as a design trendsetter and to use fashion platforms to engage with younger, aspirational, stylish consumers.
While secondly, its particularly objective for February’s Fashion Week was promote its new 2015 GLA-Class SUV. The brand believes this model combines a fun, adventurous spirit with a design that begs to be noticed – which its activation links to the ‘famous NYC street style revered by the fashion industry’.
Through the week, Koo hit the city’s streets with the brief of ‘capturing urbanites sporting notable fashions’.
His resulting images were then printed and wheat-pasted into an interactive display surrounding the GLA-Class vehicle in the main lobby of the Lincoln centre hub HQ of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
This evolving initiative saw the images updated continuously throughout the day and will featured trendsetters from around the city.
Fashion fans were also encouraged to catch the campaign’s mobile extension at hot spots across the city and were simultaneously encouraged to celebrate personal style by posting pictures of themselves standing before the mobile units using the hashtag #MBFWStreetStyle.
Those engaging with the campaign through this funnel were entered into a competition to win tickets to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week events and shows.
The initiative was also promoted across social media channels – including YouTube
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Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which is hubbed at The Lincoln Centre and which takes place twice a year in February and September, is trumpeted as New York City’s single largest media event.
The event is a global platform for top designers an international platform to showcase their collections to more than 100,000 industry insiders from around the world, including buyers, editors, retailers, celebrities, VIPs, and more.
It thus provides the luxury car brand with the coll cachet and connections of the cutting edge design landscape and engagement opportunities to connect with upmarket and aspirational young consumers.
In recent seasons it is becoming increasingly clear that ‘social/digital’ is fashion’s most important activation channel as both designers and sponsors use catwalk livestreaming, and image led twitter and instagram work to engage audiences at event and worldwide via fashion content and behind-the-scenes action.
Links
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Street Style Campaign Film YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnkJJ1ELOjM
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Website
http://www.mbfashionweek.com/schedule
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MBFashionWeek
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Website
