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.

Tom Bull (model) and a small production crew of three, travelled from Sydney through nine countries non-stop for five days to the final shoot in London, without sleep or hotel rooms, utilising ten modes of transport.

TIMELINE

Tuesday 15 March:

Sydney – Singapore (Flight)

Singapore – Kuala Lumpur (Bus)

Wednesday 16 March:

Kuala Lumpur – Bangkok (Flight)

Bangkok – Dubai (Flight)

Thursday 17 March:

Dubai – Abu Dhabi (Car)

Abu Dhabi – Rome (Flight)

Rome – Naples (Train)

Friday 18 March:

Naples – Amsterdam (Flight)

Amsterdam – Rotterdam (Bicycle)

Saturday 19 March:

Rotterdam – Harwich UK (Ferry)

Harwich UK – London (Taxi)

PLACEMENT

The campaign ran live in Facebook, Instagram, and M.J.Bale’s own channels (EDM, instore) from 15 to 19 March.

The content video and PR release went live on Wednesday, 23 March 2016.

SCALE

The campaign has so far achieved a reach of 1.19 million people.

The campaign drove significant reach, as well as introducing new suit buyers to the brand:

- PR reach of 23.4 million

- Total social media reach of 1.19 million people

- Increased organic reach by 10%

ENGAGEMENT

- Social engagement rate increased from 5.2%, to 17.1%, a massive 230% increase

- Video completion rate increased by a massive 32%, from 29% to 39%

- Our content also drove talkability, with our share rate increasing 79%

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

In the first two weeks, a sales uplift of 20% across the suiting range online and across M.J. Bale’s 38 stores.

With an objective to achieve an increase in sales of M.J.Bale’s 100% Merino travel suits by 10% across online sales channels and its 38 retail stores – doubling this figure was a great achievement.

Long-haul business travel is part-and-parcel for Australians doing business in Asia, Europe and the US. Expected to jump off planes, deal with the jetlag, and perform – research informed that high-performance, non-crushable clothing is important for the business traveller to feel good and be confident going into meetings. The idea was born to ‘torture test’ man vs. suit in an epic travel journey.

The target audience was high-income ($80K+) Australian businessmen; those who purchase at least one suit ($1K+) p.a.; unable to articulate differences beyond brand, style, ranging.

‘Uncrushable’ was a real-life product torture test, conducted in real time over five days.

The story unfolded via Facebook Live and Instagram; then was packaged as a content story for editorial and PR channels. Facebook Live gave the essential credibility to our idea. In bringing our audience along for the journey, they became advocates.

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 the properties of 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.