Manufacturer of intimate apparel Playtex Bras combined TV, social, and digital to create a busty $10 million integrated marketing campaign that encourages women of all ages to “be uniquely you.”
For the past six to eight months Playtex has been conducting a series of qualitative and quantitative research, including focus groups and surveys, to better identify women’s underlying underwire frustrations and areas where the brand could improve. And the verdict is clear. Women feel like they have to sacrifice style for support. To debunk this myth, Playtex teamed up with advertising agency KraftWorks NYC and launched its Be Uniquely You integrated campaign on July 8.
But because bras are a staple for women of all ages, the 80-year-old Playtex had to show its consumers that it could be just as relevant to a millennial consumer as it could be to a more mature consumer.
“We’ve been a generational bra for years, and we want to continue that,” says Tricia Bouras, director of marketing for Playtex Bras. “We want to make sure that we have the mother, the daughter, and the granddaughter.”
To better target the “granddaughter consumer,” Playtex pushed up its social and digital efforts. For example, on May 31 the brand launched the “Braclaration of Independence”—a crowdsourcing manifesto that allowed women to document what they need in order to fulfill their “pursuit of bra happiness.” According to Bouras, more than 10,000 women contributed to the Braclaration of Independence within the first four weeks of its launch. Now, women can “ratify” the Braclaration of Independence via the campaign’s website. Bouras says that more than 3,000 women have already signed the braclaration and that women have until the end of September to include their John Hancock. Women can also stay abreast of all the campaign details via the brand’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Playtex is also running 30-second TV ad spots on network shows such as The Bachelor and America’s Got Talent as well as on cable networks including ABC Family, Oxygen, and Nick@Nite. Bouras said that Playtex tried to be where its customers are by selecting networks that they frequent.
In addition, Bouras notes that it was important for Playtex to depict women of all shapes, sizes, and ages in its advertising for the campaign to seem relevant.
“We certainly want to make sure that we feature a variety of women in our advertising to demonstrate that we recognize that all women are not the same,” she said. “We want to celebrate healthiness and being relatable and really focus on who she is, versus the opposite of what she looks like from a size or an age standpoint.”
And while the digital and social elements did target the “granddaughter consumer,” Bouras says that these aspects resonated with women of all ages and that it’s important for brands to provide multiple campaign touchpoints.
“Always listen to your customer or your consumer,” she says. “Take a step back and make sure that you’re [using] a multifaceted integrated marketing campaign, because no consumer [touches] only one aspect.”
