Discreet Fashion Academy used to retain, attract customers

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Discreet is the market leader in Russia with 27% market share and is keen to keep growing. The challenge was to retain users, as well as to recruit new ones, without lowering the price.

Feminine care is a delicate subject in Russia, and one that is approached with tact. Russian girls are very beauty and fashion conscious. Discreet wanted girls to associate the product with fashion and beauty rather than just feminine care. The strategy was to make the Discreet brand an enabler for girls to access the glamorous world of fashion. Therefore, Discreet created a programme to give them a chance to become popular, not only among their friends but famous in the country as a whole.

Fashion contest

Tapping into the fact that Russian girls spend a disproportionate amount of time on social networks, The Discreet Fashion Academy group was created on Russian social network service, VKontakte. The app enabled girls to participate in a fashion contest. Players who entered the app could choose to be 'designers' or 'models'. To take part in the contest the 'designers' used the app to create digital summer collections by picking out the clothing, colours and accessories. Once the players' collection was created they could invite a friend to become their model for an online photo session.

Discreet provided augmented reality technology so that the chosen model could take part in a virtual catwalk wearing the dresses chosen by the designer. Discreet provided the model with a guide on how to take pictures and also gave modelling tips.

Teamed up

The designer and model then formed a team and worked together to promote their collection among their friends and wider social network to gain the most points. In addition to this Discreet included promotional codes for players, which they could use online to unlock additional fashion elements for their collection.

The six teams with the highest ratings were invited to the Fashion Academy TV show. The teams were chosen based on the number of collections created, how many invitations were sent to friends, likes and how many registered promotional codes were used from packs. The show was created by Discreet in partnership with MuzTV, which aligned with the brands target audience. In the show, the teams were tutored by celebrities and fashion experts to compete for the final prize, which was to present their collection at Moscow Fashion Week. The designer would also get a grant to study in the College of Design in Milan, and the model would get a professionally made portfolio by a celebrity photographer.

Results

The campaign drove Discreet to become a truly digital brand in Russia making Discreet Fashion Academy the third largest branded application in social network, Vkontakte.

Discreet engaged with nearly one million users who generated more than 200 000 digital collections and spent on average 5 minutes 17 seconds in the app.

A return rate of 36% clearly showed user's interest to stay engaged and participate.

Sponsorship of the Fashion Academy TV show built brand awareness among the target market to the same levels as a direct TVC. Awareness of the Discreet brand was nearly twice as higher with sponsorship with a ROI index of 160 vs direct copy.