ELLESSE & ZARA LARSSON: SHOPPABLE TIKTOK CONCERT

TitleELLESSE & ZARA LARSSON: SHOPPABLE TIKTOK CONCERT
BrandPENTLAND BRANDS LIMITED
Product/ServiceELLESSE
Category B09. Use of Social Platforms
Entrant MEDIACOM London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation MEDIACOM London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation 2 PENTLAND BRANDS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement MEDIACOM London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR TIKTOK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production TIKTOK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Thomas Johnson MediaCom UK Ideation
Neesha Taneja MediaCom UK Ideation
Sinead Sherlock MediaCom UK Media Planning Lead
Luke Bennett MediaCom UK Production Manager
Joseph Bridle MediaCom UK Production Manager
Laura Noet MediaCom UK Influencer / TikTok Creator Engagement
Annabel Harris MediaCom UK Influencer / TikTok Creator Engagement
Oksana Valentelis TikTok Production
Caspar Williamson TikTok Production
Tom Skinner TikTok Production
Angela Gillespie TikTok Production
Kris Abbott TikTok Production
Gemma Britton TikTok Production
David Mogendorff TikTok Production
Ed Linderman TikTok Production
Chris Crichlow TikTok Production
Emmanuel Ojomo TikTok Production
Jaime Rivera TikTok Production
Hannah Lee TikTok Production
Simon Bauchet TikTok Production
Laura Lacroix TikTok Production
Simon Breckon Pentland Brands Limited Client
Tatiana Laudati Pentland Brands Limited Client
Mia Farrar-Akram Pentland Brands Limited Client
Anna Buttimer Pentland Brands Limited Client

Why is this work relevant for Media?

ellesse’s #BEBOLD campaign with Zara Larsson was a game-changing world first. Following insight on Gen-Z behaviours, the campaign brought together the best of both digital and physical worlds in the world’s first shoppable livestream concert, held exclusively on TikTok and hosted by ellesse brand ambassador and pop sensation, Zara Larsson. Those attending the concert were able to see clickable items of clothing appear on screen, based on Zara’s outfit and were able to purchase within the TikTok app. The concert, a truly immersive digital experience, had almost 100,000 viewers; more people than can fit into the UK’s largest stadium, Wembley.

Background

ellesse is a brand associated with 90s nostalgia. As the 90s become further away from the present day, we needed to focus our attention on speaking directly to millennial and gen-Z shoppers, ensuring we recruit a new generation of ellesse wearers. We had big objectives for our campaign. Firstly, the campaign needed to make a high cut-through to establish ellesse as the brand of choice for our viewers. We needed the campaign to be striking and exciting enough to achieve extra earned reach. Secondly, it was important that the campaign stayed true to the effortlessly cool spirit of ellesse, while also appealing to our target audience. Finally, the campaign needed to not just inspire a new generation; it needed to drive them towards effortless and quick purchase. A tall order for a single campaign!

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Insight into our target Gen-Z and Millennial audiences showed that they might spend almost a third of their waking life online, but three-quarters of them are more motivated by in-store experiences rather than the products themselves when making purchase decisions. And online shopping is transactional and dull. Shopping via social media is far from the ‘experience’ that matters so much to our target audience. So, we put the experience back into shopping with a live shoppable TikTok concert featuring brand ambassador and Gen Z favourite, Zara Larsson. After all, nearly half of Gen Zs make purchases that are influenced by online celebrities. This world-first leveraged the power of TikTok livestream and as Zara performed in key ellesse looks to fans worldwide, the audience could purchase clothing directly via TikTok.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

This ground-breaking, globally live-streamed concert, would allow us to reach millennials and gen-Zs across the world, providing them with a celebrity powered shopping experience we knew they would love. Before the gig we also wanted to drum up the hype and excitement by trending on TikTok. We know that nothing drives engagement better than a hashtag challenge, so we launched our own dance challenge, using the virality of the platform to drive mass reach vs this hard-to-reach young audience. We also understood the organic power of influential TikTokkers, so we worked with these creators to promote the gig. Then, on the night itself, we created an immersive live experience, all directly shoppable in the TikTok app. A world first for cultural commerce.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

To drum up excitement pre-event, we created a TopView ad and a branded hashtag challenge, #BeBold. Using a bespoke branded effect, the hashtag invited fans to become part of the show itself as backing dancers with routines sound-tracked to Larsson’s biggest hit song, Right Here. Furthermore, we enlisted the help of prominent TikTok creators to promote the event, all also wearing ellesse clothing. The event itself, run on 1st October, went live to the TikTok community, with more viewers present than could fill the UK’s biggest concert venue – Wembley stadium! Those tuning into the concert on TikTok would see clickable items of clothing appear on the screen based on what Zara was wearing. Viewers could then tap the pieces, exploring the items in closer detail and even purchasing directly on the app, powered by TikTok Shopping.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign was the world’s first shoppable livestream concert on a short-form video and entertainment platform, revolutionising the possibilities for communicating with this hard-to-reach audience. We wanted to generate cut-through with millennials and gen-Z and our TikTok partnership did this. The gig had more viewers than could fit in Wembley stadium, there were 700,000 dance videos created and we generated over 3.4 billion hashtag views. By using TikTok, we reached millennials and gen-Z on one of the most popular platforms on the planet for this audience. Using creators and Zara Larsson enabled us to organically deliver the effortlessly cool essence of the brand while providing our viewers with a brilliant and memorable experience. Finally, through TikTok Shopping, we were able to achieve a seamless consumer journey for viewers to purchase clothing they liked without even leaving the gig. Overall, a bold media campaign and a world first in cultural commerce.