DEISEL - Brand awareness on a whole other level
The famous clothing brand Diesel made an extremely bold move on February 9 of 2018. A move that no one was really ready to witness such an embrace from the customers and make the brand thrive.
So, Diesel opened up secretly a pop-up store during fashion week in New York at Canal Street NY. The store was filled with clothes actually tailored by the Diesel company but the logo was altered slightly and instead of Diesel the clothes had the brand name “Diesel” written anthem. Some of them would have the fake and altered logo very provocatively written on them making it obvious that the clothes were definitely knock-offs.
Thus, people actually bought the clothes and the quality of their quality could not be denied even with the fake logo on them! Many people were curious and suspicious about the whole situation of this strange pop-up store but many of them actually bought from it and did not really fall through their suspicions. We could say that they ‘just went with it”.
The next day, Diesel announced that the store was theirs and all the clothes were made by them. a huge line of people was soon formed outside of the store making the clothes disappear fast. Now, why would a big brand like that alter something so important such as its own logo, its brand image essentially to the people, so provocatively?
For many pertinent reasons! The brand wanted to make an experiment essentially with the new buyers that roam the clothing market. They wanted to see how much does a brand, quality of the product, and image play a role in them. most importantly, it wanted to see if people can actually let themselves go and go with the flow. The main goal was to make people go with the flow or more precisely “go with the flaw”.
AdWeek put it to words very well: “It also shows the brand can reach a new generation of shoppers who thrive on finding and buying exclusive products and plays into a younger generation of shoppers who want more than just things — they want experiences.”
According to Nancy Berger, Vice President and Publisher at Marie Claire.“We all know that younger generations … don’t want to be cookie cutters or like everybody else. They want to stand out and be a little bit their own. I think it’s all about personal branding for that generation. I would imagine the Diesel audience has gotten a little bit older. Now Diesel is seeing that they have to bring in a new generation. I think a stunt like this keeps them relevant.”
Diesel did not want to degrade a brand's image. It was proven after all that people still bought the products before learning about their true identity because the quality was excessively good! The buyers did not think it very thoroughly, as long as they liked the design and the quality they just went with it. Diesel wants to create this whole new mentality that clothes can be so much more than just a brand. Your image is not just based on a logo but a deeper belief, culture, and bond behind them.
Diesel wants through this project to create a culture for its brand, not just a good brand image. Through this campaign Diesel tried to give a deeper meaning to its products and it succeeded. Cheers to the new era of brand awareness.
Find alternative creations from Diesel by visiting their web store down below. The original knock-offs were rapidly sold out and were limited edition. Nobody knows if the brand will launch a similar campaign soon. However, the message got through and some other beautiful creations were initiated that you can see by pressing the link down below:
Video explaining the campaign:
By the “Ogilvies” team for Strategy Lab by Ad and Pr Lab Panteion University:
Danai Lyratzi, Xenia Ntavranoglou, Stavroula Pollatou, Ioanna Thanasi, Katerina Tsigarida
Lab Director: Lina Kiriakou
