Winners & Shortlists

VAN GILS PROUD TAILOR OF KNVB AND SUPPORTER OF WILD LIONS

TitleVAN GILS PROUD TAILOR OF KNVB AND SUPPORTER OF WILD LIONS
BrandVAN GILS
Product/ServiceMENS FASHION
Category A08. SPONSORSHIP
Entrant Company ORCHESTRA Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Advertising Agency ORCHESTRA Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Agency BRANDWEBBING Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS
PR Agency COEBERGH PR Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production Company BRENNINKMEIJER & ISSACS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name Company Position
Ramon Stalenhoef Orchestra Creative Director Copy/Concept
Mischa Schreuder Orchestra Creative Director Art/Digital
Bela Stamenkovits Orchestra Executive Creative Director
Ed Stibbe Orchestra Managing Director
Martijn Amendt Orchestra Account Director
Marlyn Barends Orchestra Designer
Jelani Isaacs Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Executive Producer
Sander Brenninkmeijer Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Producer
Jeroen Hofman Jeroen Hofman Photography Photographer
Ramon Tiernagan Kings Of Silence Music Artist
Ernst Teule Kings Of Silence Music Artist
Roel Boorsma Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Producer
David Leite Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Producer
Bryan Little Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Cameraman
Wouter Van Luijn Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Editor
Kevin Kimman Brenninkmeijer/Isaacs Editor

The Campaign

Challenge: Men’s fashion brand Van Gils became the official clothing supplier of the KNVB, the Royal Dutch Football Association, during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Strategy: “No Stitch, No Story”. We needed to connect this brand mentality to the sponsorship. Execution: We found the answer in an icon that connected the Van Gils brand mentality with the KNVB and all Dutch fans: A real lion! A lion is Holland’s national symbol and also represents the logo of the KNVB. The world of Van Gils consists of real men with stitches and stories. Like Kevin Richardson, the lion whisperer. Him taking care of wild lions and having a special relationship with them, makes him a unique Van Gils ambassador for the KNVB sponsorship campaign. We developed a viral that raised awareness all over the world. We filmed and photographed a world’s first: Playing football with wild lions. No Photoshop, no image manipulation or other tricks. Results: With a very limited budget the small brand created a lot of free publicity with unique branded content. All KNVB suits were sold out even before the World Cup started! The viral reached over 4 million views on different online players and it was shown on TV in Holland and other countries. The amount of Facebook friends grew from 5,000 to over 120,000 and the support of the lions created a lot of free publicity and goodwill for the brand.

The Brief

Objectives 1. Awareness for Van Gils as the official clothing supplier of the KNVB, the Royal Dutch Football Association. 2. Sales of special Van Gils KNVB collection of formal and informal wear. Target audience 1. Regarding brand awareness / PR; all Dutch men and women, focus on men. 2. Regarding sales: Dutch men, especially of an age from 25 years and above.

Results

* With a very limited budget the small brand created a lot of awareness with unique branded content. * Over 10mln Dutch people were reached (source: BrandWebbing media agency) * Over EUR 500,000 of Dutch media value via PR (source: Coebergh PR agency) * All KNVB suits were sold out even before the World Cup started! * The viral reached over 4 million views on different online players and it was shown on TV in Holland and other countries. * The amount of Facebook friends grew from 5,000 to over 120,000. * Online stats: site traffic rate +133%, conversion rate +113%, sales rate +114%. * The support of the lions created a lot of free publicity and goodwill for the brand and a financial injection for the Wildlife Sanctuary. * Overall a great kick-start for the new relationship with the KNVB.

Execution

The world of Van Gils consists of real men with stitches and stories. Like Kevin Richardson, the lion whisperer. Him taking care of wild lions and having a special relationship with them, makes him a unique Van Gils ambassador for the KNVB sponsorship campaign. For every Van Gils KNVB suit that was sold, 50 euros went to the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary. Van Gils became the proud tailor of KNVB and supporter of wild lions. To get this message across we developed a viral that raised awareness all over the world. We filmed and photographed a world’s first: Playing football with wild lions. No Photoshop, no image manipulation or other tricks. Except for great moves by Kevin Richardson. The launch of the viral was online via social media and some websites. No event or huge kickoff was nescesary. As planned (and hoped) the viral did the job.

The Situation

Men’s fashion brand Van Gils became the official clothing supplier of the KNVB, the Royal Dutch Football Association. This means Van Gils proudly provides a special collection of formal and informal wear to the Dutch national football team and their fans during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. If a small men’s fashion brand as Van Gils Fashion wants impact around the World Cup, they need to come with something extra special. All channels in all media are screaming for attention and want to add a piece of World Cup to their brand.

The Strategy

Van Gils believes that clothes make the man, but so do great stories; “No Stitch, No Story”. We needed to connect this brand mentality to the sponsorship. Because there was no budget for a 360 degrees campaign it had to be done in a smart and impactful way. We found the answer in an icon that connected the Van Gils brand mentality with the KNVB and all Dutch fans: A real lion! A lion is Holland’s national symbol and also represents the logo of the KNVB. So what if we put a real lion together with a real man wearing a Van Gils KNVB suit…?