We put M.J. Bale’s 100% Merino wool travel suit through the ultimate product trial and ‘torture test’ to prove that it meets the demands of Australian business travellers, who journey longer and farther than anyone else.

Travelling more than 20,000km through nine countries over five days non-stop, an unsuspecting model was dressed in a suit in Sydney for a fashion shoot that took place in London. In between was a gruelling journey across Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Rome, Naples, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Harwich on planes, trains, tuk-tuks, bikes and even an overnight ferry across the North Sea to the UK. All without sleep and without changing the one, 100% Merino wool travel suit he donned in Sydney.

Model Tom Bull was a broken man but the suit was impeccable, proving that you can crush the man, but you can’t crush the suit.

A small production crew and model Tom Bull travelled from Sydney through nine countries non-stop for five days to the final shoot in London, without sleep or hotel rooms.

The journey was captured live on social channels via Instagram and Facebook Live. Along the journey, Tom Bull did a daily live report and Q&A via Facebook Live, proving it was happening in real time, not staged. Thousands tuned in to follow. The most memorable moments became shareable video content, across media and our own social channels.

The journey across nine countries happened in real time across Facebook; Facebook Live; Instagram; 38 M.J. Bale retail stores; M.J. Bale’s EDMs; and in PR.

TIMELINE:

Planning: February

Filming and live social: 15-19 March

Journalist trials: 15-23 March

PR launch: 23 March.

SCALE:

The campaign has so far achieved a reach of over 26 million people through earned media and social.

We were set an objective to achieve an increase of sales of M.J. Bale’s 100% Merino travel suits by 10%. In the first two weeks, we saw an uplift of 20% across the suiting range online and across M.J. Bale’s 38 stores.

The campaign brought increased exposure to new customers with 75% of reach with non-fans versus our benchmark of 47%.

PR reach was 25 million – every eyeball in Australia versus a 10 million target.

Total social media reach 1.19 million.

Organic reach increased by 10%.

We influenced consumers to ask about 100% Merino wool suits, opening up discussions in social and influencer media about the importance of microns in the wool for durability purposes.

Consumers previously saw little differentiation between different makes of suits. As a result of the ‘Uncrushable’ campaign, large proportions of customers either insist on 100% Merino wool or at least ask questions about it.

The product ‘torture test’ was played out live over a number of platforms including Facebook and Facebook Live, Instagram, and M.J. Bale owned channels and retail stores. It was the combination of these channels that helped to tell the story and involve the audience in the idea. We believe the utilisation of Facebook Live was particularly powerful as it assured the audience that the journey was happening live, and it wasn’t staged in any way. Authenticity was key for the credibility of the idea.

High-income ($80K+) Australian businessmen; purchase at least one suit ($1K+) p.a.; unable to articulate differences beyond brand, style, ranging.

With limited budget, our goal was to change the conversation around travel suits and own this differentiated positioning. As a result, our media strategy focused on business and style influencers and publications while our social and owned assets (in-store, eDM) brought the idea to life via a live broadcast.

We developed a three-pronged strategy: consumer research, torture test, and product trials. By live broadcasting the torture test via Facebook we’d show how the suit could meet the demands of extreme travelling. Media and influencers were encouraged to test out their own 100% Merino wool travel suit on everything from rollercoasters to football matches.

Australians travel farther for business than any other nation. A constant struggle to look and feel their best, hopping off the plane and going straight into the boardroom.

BRIEF:

The male suiting category is tough. Owning durability and performance for business travel is a key differentiation for M.J. Bale. Their suits are 100% Australian Merino wool. No matter how hard a gent wears their suit, whether it is crushed or stretched, the wool microns’ ‘memory’ always ‘bounces back’ to a perfect look and fit.

M.J. Bale challenged us to get everyone talking about them afresh.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Educate businessmen about 100% Australian Merino wool and its travel durability in suits

2. Influence purchasers to insist on 100% Merino wool suits

3. Secure high-value earned media reach; target of 10m

4. Increase search traffic by 10%

5. Increase M.J. Bale suit sales by 10%; online sales channels, 38 retail stores.