Allen Solly sets its Friday anthem to a new tune

The brand re-interprets a long-standing proposition in context of the contemporary workplace.

The premium apparel brand Allen Solly has rolled out a new marketing campaign to refresh its age-old proposition of 'Friday Dressing'. This brand proposition is something inherent to Allen Solly, and has existed conceptually since the 1990s, when the brand attempted to replace the typical hues of greys and whites that people wore to office with more vibrant colours.

Joono Simon, executive creative director, Ogilvy Bengaluru (the agency that has worked on this campaign), explains, "As a concept, 'Friday Dressing' is something intrinsic to the brand. This campaign is the '2011 version' of this brand property."

Recall the memorable TV commercial (titled '
Yellow Shirt
') aired a few years back, in which a gentleman wearing a bright yellow shirt to work inspires a train full of men to follow suit. The current campaign aims to re-interpret the same concept within the context of contemporary work life, with the tagline 'Adios Stressing. Hello Friday Dressing'.

The insights used have a lot to do with the stress levels faced by today's youth at the workplace. "The brand takes up the mission of brightening up the workplace that has become less fun and more serious owing to modern-day stress, uncertainty, the overall global scenario and potential recession," elaborates Simon.

As part of the campaign, which targets young, working adults, within the age bracket of 20-27 years, belonging to SEC A, the brand has developed the 'Friday Anthem' TVC. The film is a musical that has been rendered through A Cappella (church music), and in a tone that is candid. It is a spontaneous 'merry dance' against the backdrop of a stressful office.

Besides television, the brand proposition is amplified across other media channels including digital, print and BTL (below the line). The brand is utilising social media to address its target audiences. On Facebook, the brand has launched a new application called 'What brightens up your workplace?', a tool via which consumers can share their ideas and string relevant conversation threads within the context of Allen Solly. Interestingly, the new TV commercial was first shared as viral on Facebook, before it was released on TV. Twitter and YouTube are also being exploited.

Sooraj Bhat, brand head, Allen Solly, claims that the brand's ad spends are double of what a typical apparel brand would normally spend on a marketing campaign. Without revealing figures, he informs afaqs! that the media budget this time around is more than double of the previous autumn-winter marketing campaign.

"While TV will be used to create and communicate the brand thought, print will primarily be used for creating strong product preference and fashion sensibilities. The digital medium will be leveraged to engage with the consumers," says Bhat, about the media mix.

Retail-level branding, in-store promotions, visual merchandising, and activations in office spaces are also on the cards.