BIHOR COUTURE

Bronze Eurobest

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleBIHOR COUTURE
BrandBEAU MONDE
Product/ServicePUBLISHING
Category G02. Low Budget / High Impact Campaign
Entrant McCANN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Idea Creation McCANN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Media Placement UM BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Additional Company MRM//McCANN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Credits
Name Company Position
ADRIAN BOTAN MCCANN EMEA GLOBAL EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CATALIN DOBRE MCCANN ROMANIA EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
IOANA ZAMFIR MCCANN ROMANIA GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR
IONUT COJOCARU MCCANN ROMANIA CONTENT CREATOR
ADRIAN RUSU MCCANN ROMANIA SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
ADINA CIRSTEA MCCANN ROMANIA COPYWRITER
SABINA POPA MCCANN ROMANIA ART DIRECTOR
CARMEN BISTRIAN MCCANN ROMANIA CREATIVE EXCELLENCE MANAGER EUROPE
ALEXANDRA ALBU MCCANN ROMANIA REGIONAL SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER
ANDRA SANIA MCCANN ROMANIA REGIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER
CORINA NICA MCCANN ROMANIA CORPORATE PR EXECUTIVE
TIBERIU MUNTEANU MCCANN ROMANIA AV MANAGER
ALEX POPA MCCANN ROMANIA AV PRODUCER
ANDREEA SOFRONE MRM//MCCANN ROMANIA ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
BIANCA CIOBANU MRM//MCCANN ROMANIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
BIANCA URDEA MRM//MCCANN ROMANIA WEB DESIGNER
ALEXANDRA VISAN MRM//MCCANN ROMANIA SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER
ANDREI COTARTA VIDEOEDIT STUDIO VIDEO EDITOR
ANDREI MANDRU VIDEO EDIT FILM DIRECTOR
RADU VOINEA VIDEO EDIT STUDIO DOP
VALENTIN RUSCAN VIDEO EDIT SECOND UNIT DIRECTOR
ARGATU VIDEOEDIT STUDIO MUSIC DESIGN
VLAD GHEORGHIU VIDEO EDIT STUDIO MUSIC DESIGN

Provide budget details

Overall budget: 7000 eur Breakdown of costs: - Shooting Romania & Paris Fashion Week 5.000 eur - Editing Costs 500 eur - Website 1.500 eur - Paid media budget (where applicable): NZ

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

We give people, especially fashion people, the most direct & sustainable experience of fashion: access the original product, connect with the artisan, and support the artisan and its tradition. In the same time we launched an alarm signal towards the big brands that commit cultural appropriation without giving credit to local artisans.

Background

Bihor is a small region in Romania rich in traditions. They created a famous coat that was copied by Dior and sold for 30.000 euro, without mentioning the source of inspiration. When designers give no credit to their inspiration, there is no return for the poor communities that struggle to keep the traditions. And the traditions die. Beau Monde, the fashion magazine with 100% Romanian content, wanted to help authenticity survive and take a stand against cultural appropriation. Cultural Appropriation = the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, without showing that you understand or respect this culture (Cambridge Dictionary).

Describe the creative idea

Stop the unpunished habit of cultural appropriation We looked back at other recent examples of cultural appropriation in fashion: Stella McCartney used traditional African motives in her Summer/Spring 2018 collection. Louis Vuitton debuted a line of blankets, worn as coats by the people of Besotho, as part of their menswear collection, and many more. We created Bihor Couture, the first brand that fights against cultural appropriation. It aims to return money to the local communities by selling authentic fashion pieces on a digital platform. We promoted the digital shop by launching an entertaining fashion content series featuring the most eccentric designers so far. Then, we targeted international celebrities interested in Dior with customized message videos from the local creators in Bihor. And even sent an invitation to Dior to come to Bihor and design a new jacket with our creators.

Describe the strategy

We needed to make the original designers known in the entire world. We also wanted to promote the authentic fashion pieces, in a unique way, making them appealing to everybody, including a younger target and people who are not familiarized with Romanian traditions. This is why we built an online shop, that can be accessed by everyone in the world. To promote the new brand, we used the fashion critique format with fashion experts, and instead invited the local creators from Bihor to talk about Dior’s collection, as the real experts of the jacket.

Describe the execution

We launched the new brand with a fashion video content series, featuring the original designers from Bihor, commenting on Dior’s collection, the same one where the jacket from Bihor was included. The series was highly entertaining, with juicy comments from our local creators, and it could be watched on Facebook and YouTube. Then, we created print ads featuring our designers and targeted international celebrities interested in Dior, like Lady Gaga or Beyoncé, with customized messages from our local creators. What followed was an invitation to Dior to come to Bihor and design a new coat with our designers. We even made it to Paris Fashion Week, proudly wearing the coat from Bihor and thus, making a statement to the entire world of fashion.

List the results

We put Bihor on fashion map The campaign made a huge impact, with people storming the website and placing hundreds of orders for traditional clothes. Presently, more craftsmen are being brought into the platform, to work on all the orders that keep on coming. With an initial investment of 7.000 euro, the campaign gained 1.4 million euro in earned media which means a Return On Investment of almost 200%. Pre-orders were made to cover the work for the next 4,5 years. Beau Monde also raised money to fund the only craftsmen school in Bihor, to attract more young people that can learn the craft and it further in the future. So the tradition lives on.