apsotw bashful h&m launch

APSOTW - H&M PINNACLE PRODUCT LAUNCH 2013

CHALLENGE

Launch a range of H&M basketball shoes that will make the brand ‘cool’.


Business objective Sell 1 million pairs of H&M basketball shoes in 2013.

Marketing objectivePosition the range as “fashion meets street wear” at an affordable price ($50).

Communication objectiveMake H&M look like an energetic, exciting, and surprising brand.


OBJECTIVES


TARGET CONSUMER

Males and females between 18 and 24 - both customers and non-customers of H&M. They aren’t necessarily into basketball or sports. Music, art and film is what’s cool to them (the creative scene).

Although young people in the creative scene tend to be self-expressive, they do not necessarily want (or are able to) create music, art or films themselves.


BRAND

H&M is a Fast Fashion brand that blends catwalk fashion with street wear and sells it at an affordable price.


CATEGORY

H&M competes with other global retail brands such as Zara, Uniqlo, Topshop and GAP.

We want the target consumer to think of H&M as more energetic, exciting and surprising than these brands.

None of them have launched a range of (basketball) shoes.

On a product level H&M will compete with the likes of Adidas Originals, Nike and Puma. However, these sneakers are sold at a much higher price point. We actually consider Converse All-Stars to be the real competitor.

We aim to position H&M basketball shoes as the new (and cooler) alternative to Converse All-Stars.


STRATEGY

Consumer

Young people in the creative scene want to express themselves, but do not

necessarily want to create.

Bring H&M basketball shoes into the creative sceneby launching them as a simple way to express yourself.

Brand

Fast Fashion:blending catwalk fashion

with street wear.

Category

The new (and cooler) alternative to Converse All-Stars.

H&M is about simplicity, distilling fashion catwalk trends into everyday fashion for the masses.

Colour is a simple, universal way of expressing fashion. Seasonal trends are defined by colour. The application of colour, be it tonal, clashing or harmonies; or even the absence of colour is led by fashion.

Colour is also a vital expression of creativity and personality.


INSIGHT

By blending colour with the basketball shoe, itself a symbol of street cool since the Ramones wore them in the 70’s, H&M will create the ultimate symbol of fashion meets street.


COLOUR OF ME


CONCEPT


STAGE 1 - THE COLOUR OF INFLUENCEBasic product range and campaign

Nine influencers in the creative scene claim their own colour to be created as a collection of H&M basketball shoes.

The shoes are promoted through a series of short documentaries on each of the creative leaders and what their colour represents to them.

Broad range of creative influencers such as:

RICK RUBINMARK RONSONNICOLA FORMICCIETTEKATIE GRANDLANA DEL REY

TERRY RICHARDSONSOPHIE COPPOLLACHLOE SEVIGNEYCARINNE ROITFELD


STAGE 2 - OWN YOUR COLOURProduct innovation and interactive experience

All the colours in the spectrum are made available for people to claim as their own through a ‘Colour Of Me’ app.

1. Pick the colour you love.2. Get the unique colour code and order a pair of shoes.3. Own your colour on the spectrum by filling out a short profile (favourite music genre, film, artist, etc).

When you claim your colour, it’s shared through your networks encouraging your friends to claim their colour too.

No two colours are the same. Each shoe is stamped with its unique colour code.


STAGE 2 - OWN YOUR COLOURProduct innovation and interactive experience

H&M flagship stores will have an art studio where customers can claim their colour.

The shoe comes in white, pre-masked in plastic for colouring. In-store, a robot spray booth creates each unique colour and sprays the shoe while you watch.

When it comes out of the booth, the plastic is peeled away and the shoe is ready to wear.

Customers can also order straight from the app and receive a video of their shoe being sprayed with their unique colour.

What is the Colour of Hip Hop?

The customer profiles generate data visualisations of the creative tastes and colours around the world.

We follow-up the launch campaign by using the data from the profiles to release multiple series of limited edition basketball shoes such as:

The Colour of RockThe Colour of ParisThe Colour of Sci-fi


STAGE 3 - THE COLOUR OF ...Product extension and campaign follow-up


A BROADER VIEW

The Colour Of Me doesn’t need to be confined to basketball shoes.

If it is successful in terms of sales and brand perception, H&M can extend it to other product categories:

Pants, shirts, t-shirts, underwear etc...


SUCCESS MEASUREMENT

1. Product sales.

2. Brand perception scores on:

- Energetic- Exciting- Surprising

3. Video views, website visits/app downloads, website/app usage.


QUESTIONS

1. Do you have any additional research on existing customers between 18 and 24?

2. Why do you believe H&M is not cool with the target consumer?

3. Do you know of any plans within the category to launch sneakers?

4. Why basketball?

5. How will change in brand perception be measured?

Thank you!


Oliver Britz, David Feenstra, Vivian Huynh, Garreth Wills

@Bashful Sydney

apsotw bashful h&m launch

Documents

product level hm

colour of meapsotw

absence of colour

application of colour

range of hm basketball

pairs of hm basketball

unique colour code

product extension