The Ask

UNIQLO wanted to increase email newsletter subscriptions in time for the holiday season.

Our Answer

GIFs were a perfect match for UNIQLO quirky and playful brand tone. We capitalized on the growing popularity of GIFs to incentivize users to sign up. To create more than 100 branded GIFs, we partnered with acclaimed digital artists from around the world. The GIFs were packaged in a simple interface that made them easy to share.

To ensure there would be ample unique content for people to share, we created more than 100 original animations: everything from a vortex of cashmere sweaters to origami rainbow unicorns and telekinetic laser women in Ultra Light Down. Each seasonally themed gif needed to creatively integrate a key element of the brand such as products and color, plus the logo – and be so quirky people would be inclined to pass it on. The resulting GIFs capture the fun, energy and bold color that one feels when walking into a UNIQLO store.

Our total media spend: $20,000. On the week GIF Box launched, UNIQLO.com had the biggest traffic surge in its history, 620,000 visits (still unsurpassed). The GIF artists also drove traffic, including 22,400 visits from one popular cat-GIF maker. The campaign received 11.1 million impressions on Twitter and 21.7 million impressions on Reddit, where it spurred a user-generated thread. Best of all, UNIQLO gained 121,000 new subscribers in less than a month, a radically low cost of 16 cents per unique address. For UNIQLO, GIFs are a gift that keeps on giving.