Topshop is celebrating Chinese New Year with the launch of a short film that ties together its British brand and its growing international consumer base.
The Lanterns, as it’s called, sees two models captured in front of London’s Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, with Chinese lanterns floating above them. It is set to a cover of This Little Light of Mine by Berend Dubbe and Gwen Thomas, and ends with copy that wishes the viewer a prosperous New Year in both English and traditional Chinese characters.
“We wanted to create something fun that represented the spirit of the Topshop girl whilst capturing the energy of this special time of celebration and giving,” said Topshop’s CMO, Justin Cooke.
Importantly, the film was released on Topshop’s Chinese social media networks, including Weibo where it has over 10 million followers. It also launched on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram.
Topshop will open its first store in Hong Kong in May, but this film is as much about reaching Chinese consumers worldwide as it is within China itself. According to stats from Topshop, Chinese travellers took over 70 million trips abroad last year, and 150,000 headed to London.
Cooke said: “Not only do we have a huge following in Asia but there are also enormous numbers of Chinese tourists and Chinese communities based in cities all over the world – for example Los Angeles, where we open a store on February 14, we know that there is a very strong Chinese community there… I think it’s really important as a global brand that we speak to and understand the things that really matter to them, this is a significant time of year and it’s also a very personal one where people get together and thank the people they love.”
Even the length of the film is culturally considerate. At 58 seconds it coincides with Chinese superstitions of numerology; five and eight are both lucky numbers, symbolising wealth and prosperity.
Topshop has also created limited edition lucky red gift cards and envelopes to note the Chinese tradition to gift ‘Lucky Money’ as a wish of prosperity. They are available in its flagship stores and online globally.
Stood atop a grand piano, the Hollywood actress sings a rendition of Winter Wonderland in the spot; a track that Topshop hopes has a chance of reaching number one. Accordingly, it is available to download on iTunes as well as through Shazam and Spotify.
The film was directed by Michael Polish and was inspired by the famous piano scene from 1989′s The Fabulous Baker Boys with Michelle Pfeiffer.
It sees Bosworth wearing a custom-made Topshop dress, designed by her in partnership with the retailer’s team. Both that and her shoes will be available to order on Topshop.com to tie in with its new store opening in LA in February 2013. The make-up worn in the film however is available to order immediately.
“This project brings together two important aspects of my life: cinema and fashion. I have always been a fan of the Topshop brand and it has been an honour to work with Sir Phillip and the team. I hope everyone enjoys watching it as much as we did making it,” said Bosworth.
She has also sent personalised digital messages introducing the film to numerous Topshop customers.
Given the fact online films now pop-up left, right and centre from fashion brands and retailers, it’s always fun to see those who go the extra mile to make sure their fans are fully engaged ahead of launch, almost securing the spot’s virality before it does so.
Kudos then to Topshop, who has made its first holiday campaign an altogether more significant affair by using social media to tease who its star is.
“Winter Wonderland” will premier tomorrow on YouTube, fronted by a Hollywood A-lister. Accordingly, Topshop has been using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram to build anticipation as to who she is.
Five teaser trailers reveal shots of her from the neck down, pictures on Instagram capture her in London over the weekend from behind, and comments on Twitter provide clues into where she’s from and what she likes doing. A board on Pinterest houses everything together in one space.
Justin Cooke, CMO at Topshop, said: “We are very excited about the launch of our first Christmas movie, its a true 360 degree campaign with some surprise elements that you will see tomorrow! We wanted to create real anticipation before it premiered and it looks likes its working with over 100,000 people watching 10 second teasers and an incredible number of posts and tweets across all platforms.”
Some of the clues have included:
This one is particularly fabulous:
And the guesses have been flying in. “From Elizabeth Olsen & Georgia May Jagger to Whitney Port & Diane Kruger…” tweeted Topshop on Saturday, December 1. So too have there been suggestions such as Cara Delevingne, Kate Bosworth, Chloë Grace Moretz, Emma Stone and more.
Fans themselves have been saying things like: “@Topshop’s #whosthatgirl competition is so addictive, keep trying to guess who it is, I really haven’t got a clue!”
And: “@Topshop #whosthatgirl can’t wait til Tuesday to find out if I’m correct, most fun game I’ve played in a long time, feel like a detective!”
And: “Tortured by @Topshop’s #whosthatgirl campaign. Talk about brilliant social media marketing. Can’t wait to find out who she is tomorrow!”
As for the film itself, Topshop says its inspired by The Fabulous Baker Boys – the film that made Michelle Pfeiffer famous. Until tomorrow then… (and some more pics below in the meantime).
British fashion brand Matthew Williamson launched on Twitter today, marking its first commitment to a new digital strategy headed up by Rosanna Falconer, previously of the British Fashion Council.
Created to give followers an insider view, the @MWWorld handle will capture all the action from behind-the-scenes of the collections and the studio. It kickstarted this morning with the above tweet, and has since continued with a photo of Matthew mid-meeting as well as a link to his YouTube page where a video documenting the shoot for his forthcoming XV film starring Sienna Miller, Poppy Delevingne and Valentine Fillol-Cordier exists (as below).
Matthew himself will also be sharing his insight, inspirations and travels.
As a follow on, the website and e-commerce platform will soon be relaunched to “reflect developments in technology, including mobile, and capture the brand digitally”.
Matthew Williamson will celebrate its 15-year anniversary this spring/summer 2013. The XV film will be officially unveiled next week.
Burberry is inviting consumers to purchase directly from its autumn/winter 2012 campaign and ahead of store delivery, through a series of short films and imagery.
In a continuation of the brand’s Runway to Reality concept, which allows consumers to pre-order items straight from the catwalk, fans will be able to buy straight from the campaign gallery on Burberry.com for the first time.
The campaign – starring up-and-coming British actress Gabriella Wilde, alongside musician Roo Panes – will break on June 1, with new creative rolled out on a monthly basis thereafter. Referred to as the brand’s “most cinematic shoot to date”, it was captured by Mario Testino at the Royal Naval College in London at night.
“We wanted to play with everything that’s at the heart of the Burberry world – celebrating our brand and London through imagery, film, music, weather and our iconic outerwear, all in a very poetic and British way,” said chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey.
