ABOUT YOUR CHOICE

TitleABOUT YOUR CHOICE
BrandABOUT YOU
Product/ServiceABOUT YOU
Category A04. Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
Entrant KOLLE REBBE | ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation KOLLE REBBE | ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Media Placement KOLLE REBBE | ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
PR KOLLE REBBE | ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production KOLLE REBBE | ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2 WE YOUNG Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 3 THE SOUNDSHACK Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company ABOUT YOU Hamburg, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Tarek Müller About You GmbH CEO
Vivien Bedranowsky About You GmbH Brand & Advertising
Stefan Wübbe Kolle Rebbe GmbH Chief Creative Officer
Andreas Brunsch Kolle Rebbe GmbH Executive Creative Director
Martin Terhart Kolle Rebbe GmbH Creative Lead
Thomas Heinz Kolle Rebbe GmbH Creative Lead
Christian Rentschler Kolle Rebbe GmbH Creative Director
Nicole Holzenkamp Kolle Rebbe GmbH Creative Director
Olga Baiz Kolle Rebbe GmbH Account Manager
David Giesen Kolle Rebbe GmbH Account Manager
Jonas Lenger Kolle Rebbe GmbH Art Director/Editor
Katharina Fuchs Kolle Rebbe GmbH Copywriter
Oscar Engelahrdt Kolle Rebbe GmbH Copywriter
Jan Ole Brendel Kolle Rebbe GmbH Agency Producer
Emma Paraschiakou Kolle Rebbe GmbH Online Concept
Patrick Wegener We Young Producer
Lukas Jung We Young Producer
Martin Terhart Kolle Rebbe GmbH Director
Julian Scheinkönig Freelance Editor
Hannes Mielke The Sound Shack Audio Engineer
Kelly Mac Freelance Composer
Aaron John Shapiro Freelance Composer

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

ABOUT YOU is characterized and made unique by a highly personalized online shopping experience which has earned their online shop a remarkable amount of daily contacts and more than 10 million active customers per month. ABOUT YOUr Choice relied on this shop as the main medium of communication. Here, customers who were already aware of the brand and interested in fashion could be targeted without any third parties as facilitators: The campaign message was brought directly to them through the online shop.

Background

In May 2019, many Europeans were supposed to decide on the future of their continent. The problem: A lot of them didn’t care. Amidst growing nationalist and populist agitation against the EU, the EU elections had become a test for the core values of a united Europe – democracy, tolerance, and peace. Yet for years, voter turnout had been decreasing, the last election had seen not even half of eligible Europeans cast their votes. It was time for ABOUT YOU – one of the largest online fashion shops in Europe – to use their platform and reach of over 10 million active customers in 9 European countries, take a stand for these shared values and motivate young people to go vote.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

ABOUT YOU's wide range of over 250.000 clothing items illustrates the almost infinite amount of choices all of us make every day without even giving them a second thought. We wanted to use this selection to illustrate the importance of having a choice – by taking all choices away. For one day, the ABOUT YOU online shop would show nothing but one product. A limited edition design piece with an important message: Life is all about making choices, but your most important choice is to choose at all. By showing people what it feels like to have no choice where they would least expect it, we would remind them to make a very important one: Casting their vote in the EU elections.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

ABOUT YOU's customers are young, live all over Europe and are interested in their favorite influencers, trends and fashion. This is also what they are used to seeing when they visit the ABOUT YOU website - not politics. This project strategically contradicted these expectations and delivered political information where the audience would least expect it. Yet, by combining the information with a fashion piece designed by one of Europe's hottest current designers available only in very limited quantities, it was credibly interwoven with the methods of the fashion world, where limited editions now equal highly sought after investments. This triggered the audience to engage with the elections. To make sure they actually cast their votes, we retargeted every website visitor from the stunt day with ads and sent reminder mailings to the shirt buyers. Our call to action was clear: This is ABOUT YOUr Choice. Use it and go vote.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

On May 14, all 250.000 products were removed from the ABOUT YOU shop through a one-day takeover. All but one: The Choice Shirt – a limited edition piece designed by Henrik Vibskov, one of Europe's most important and influential current designers – along with the message: „This is how it feels to have no choice.“ The shirt was available for sale and, once purchased, also turned into further motivation to go vote: A voucher in the amount of voter turnout that would become valid after election day. In the following two weeks until the election, the shirt was worn by the biggest influencers from several European countries in their own appeals to their followers to go vote. ABOUT YOU customers were also reminded to cast their ballot on the brand's social media platforms, through retargeted ads and mailings.

List the results (30% of vote)

The Choice Shirt sold out within a few hours. Its proceeds, close to 60.000€, were donated to Amnesty International. The campaign reached almost 130.000.000 contacts in 2 weeks. Through the shop alone, over a million young people were mobilized to go vote. Voter turnout across Europe was the highest in 20 years. In Germany, ABOUT YOUs core market, it climbed from 48,1% to 61.5%. A success that was shared with the shirt owners. Because after the election, The Choice Shirt turned into a voucher in the amount of the turnout. And of course, into a bold fashion statement for a united Europe.