Bertille Toledano, Fanny Buisseret, Benjamin Veaute
BETC
Agency Management
Sandrine Conseiller, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Mylène Atlan, Stéphanie Tournier
Lacoste
Brand Management
Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?
For the first time in Lacoste’s history we initiated a radical change of one of the most iconic logos in the world: the crocodile.
The Lacoste crocodile makes way for ten threatened animals in a collection of extremely limited-edition polo shirts. A call to action to bring attention to the global state of biodiversity and animal rights.
1 775 polos were produced: for each species, the number of polo shirts corresponds to the number of animals known to remain in the wild, as estimated by IUCN species experts.
Sold exclusively online, the polo shirts were sold out in 24 hours.
Background
Few brands benefit from such a famous logo. This is why we suggested that Lacoste turn this icon into a megaphone drawing public attention to threatened animals in the wild. An initiative that appeared natural to a brand showcasing a crocodile and which had already been involved in the “Save your Logo” programme a few years ago.
To make it happen, we needed an expert partner to work with. The choice came naturally to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which has been the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it for the past 70 years.
Our objective besides financial support for the association was to raise awareness and give visibility to their Save our Species programme in order to support their action on the ground.
Describe the creative idea
We used the iconic Lacoste polo as inspiration and created 10 very special polo shirts where the crocodile leaves its historic spot to 10 threatened species: the Vaquita, the Burmese roofed turtle, the Northern Sportive Lemur, the Javan Rhino, the Kakapot Parrot, the Cao Vit Gibon, The California Condor, The Saola, The Sumatran Tiger, The Anegada Ground Iguana.
For each species, the number of polo shirts produced corresponds to the number of animals known to remain in the wild: ranging from 30 examples for the Vaquita to 450 examples for the Anegada Rock Iguana; 1,775 polo shirts in total were launched during the Paris Fashion week.
Describe the strategy
This campaign positions Lacoste as an iconic brand which is not afraid to twist its own codes to support a worthy cause.
The target audience is Lacoste fans who have a deep attachment to the brand and its crocodile. But of course, the objective was to reach a wider audience and public attention on this biodiversity issue.
Describe the execution
The 1 775 limited edition Save our Species polo shirts were exclusively sold online in the US and in Europe.
Video contents were released on Lacoste social media to explain the operation and the partnership with IUCN.
The launch was made during the brand fashion show at Paris Fashion Week on February 28th.
List the results
Limited edition Save our Species polo shirts sold out in 24 hours
+76% new clients
Social media: 600k shares
1,2 million d’impressions
9,9 million earned media
And additional positive fallouts for IUCN:
Donations multiplied by 4 during the operation.
Traffic on saveourspecies.org increased 200% for the month of March.
Newsletter subscriptions increased 300% for the month of March.