In China, branded entertainment is increasingly ubiquitous as all manner of brands take advantage of the mass commercialization of media and the blurring of lines between editorial and advertorial content. Brands regularly sponsor TV programs, and product placement in TV shows and films is common. In print media, the line between editorial and advertorial is often blurred at best, or invisible. Online, numerous brands are producing mini-films, serials, crowd-sourced advertising and other forms of brand-focused interactive digital content.

OOH advertising and branded public events are also extremely common, although the government periodically cracks down on advertisements that promote conspicuous consumption of luxury goods, social stratification or which somehow do not align with the government’s agenda.

Any sort of public event or stunt requires approval from multiple authorities, and approval can suddenly be withdrawn if the event coincides with a major political event, a national disaster or any occurrence that the government feels warrants a clampdown on public gatherings.

The explosion of branded entertainment in China makes it very hard for brands like VS Sassoon to break through and reach its target audience of young fashion-forward adults who rely less on traditional media and more on peer-to-peer communication, including online interaction and real world experience.

The goal was to promote VS Sassoon’s Look of the Season — the Moveable Shape hairstyle — and relevant branded products in the influential Hong Kong market.

The agency seeded the hairstyle as a trend via select fashion influencers in traditional, digital and social media. When excitement peaked, we put it into action, creating Hong Kong’s first branded VS Sassoon salon, offering free Moveable Shape haircuts to consumers while interrupting Hong Kong life in high fashion, including a crowd stopping VS Sassoon “Fash” Mob.

The campaign raised visibility through celebrity fashion figures including Moveable Shape collaborators Mark Hayes and Alexander Wang, and Greater China style icons Pius and Dorothy.

The VS Sassoon brand relies on a fashion-forward reputation and a credibility that comes from earned word-of-mouth. The client wanted to drive the brand from the inside out, and we were able to deliver, conceiving and executing a campaign that generated “street level” excitement among consumers and media influencers in one of the most competitive global fashion markets. While the numbers represent only a single city, the word from Hong Kong has resonance in the larger fashion world:

• 2,200 consumers sampled with exclusive designer product samples

• 80 stories of media coverage in print and online

• Increase of more than 6,000 likes to the VS Sassoon HK Facebook page

• Advertising value equivalency (HKD) 1,142,046+

#1 Share of Voice against competitors, November – December, 2012