H&M WEARABLE LOVE

TitleH&M WEARABLE LOVE
BrandH&M
Product/ServiceWEARABLE LOVE JACKET
Category G01. Tangible Tech
Entrant WYNKEN BLYNKEN & NOD Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation WYNKEN BLYNKEN & NOD Hamburg, GERMANY
Media Placement VIZEUM DEUTSCHLAND Hamburg, GERMANY
Production ELEMENT E FILMPRODUKTION Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2 WEAR IT BERLIN GMBH Berlin, GERMANY
Additional Company H&M Hamburg, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Matthias Erb Wynken Blynken & Nod Chief Creative Lunatic
Jens Theil Wynken Blynken & Nod Chief Creative Lunatic
Larah Timm Wynken Blynken & Nod Group Head Account Management
Sebastian Weber Wynken Blynken & Nod Creative Director Copy
Christian Baur Wynken Blynken & Nod Creative Director Art
Muhamed Braimi Wynken Blynken & Nod Creative Lunatic/Art
Vanessa Fehst Wynken Blynken & Nod Junior Art Director

Background

While wearable technology has been a growing trend for many years, most of the products focus on generating and transmitting data. H&M wanted to offer a wearable tech solution that is in line with its brand belief and therefore puts the human being into focus. The result was “Wearable Love”, a technology that lets you send a physical touch to someone you love, wherever you are. The idea was born in an innovation program carried out by H&M. 20 innovators from various disciplines and from all over the world were given the challenge to use wearable tech to connect people and communities in a new way. The winning concept was then finalized and developed in collaboration with Boltware, a startup that specializes in wearable innovations, and creative agency Wynken Blynken & Nod which took care of the app interface, the product name, the visual identity and the creative campaign.

Describe the strategy

Science has proven that touching each other is essential for our mental and physical health. But this year, science tells the whole world to keep away from each other in order to stay healthy. The perfect time to launch “Wearable Love” – the first fashion item that’s not just an expression of style, but an expression of love for each other. The intended target group was 18-49, tech-savy, digitally well-connected people who are interested in innovation and fashion. But in a time when everyone is forced to keep your distance, the concept of a jacket that overcomes physical boundaries suddenly became relevant to everyone else as well. Since mobile devices are essential to connect to your loved ones in these challenging times, that’s where the campaign started.

Describe the execution

"Wearable Love" lets you send and receive a loving touch as easily as a text message. Flexible sensors and tactile elements incorporated into the fabric of the jacket evoke the sensation of a human touch. The concept consists of the jacket itself, the “puck”, a detachable module that provides power and connectivity, and the Wearable Love app. It connects to the jacket via Bluetooth and enables users to send a virtual hug. You can invite your friends and create custom touch patterns to send to each other's jackets. The campaign started with an emotional online film and teaser clips on social media showing the effect of “Wearable Love”. H&M also used the extensive reach of their loyalty program to help spread the word by reaching members through owned digital channels. A press release was issued to national and international media in relevant markets across Europe, Asia, North and South America.

List the results

With "Wearable Love", H&M positioned itself as the first big player in the industry to tackle the future of connected clothing with an original and innovative idea. Hundreds of tech, fashion and news media around the world, including opinion leaders such as Vogue, Huffington Post, RTL and HLN covered the innovation by H&M, creating more than 300 million impressions in earned media with a budget of less than 15.000 €. The campaign created a positive response rate of 25.4% among H&M members. And it sent a message to the fashion world that the latest trend doesn’t just have to be clothes that people love, but ones that help people love each other.