Problem:
Assignment: Hollister Co. has launched the sustainability campaign “Respect the Planet” with jeans being a focus. Since we’re seeing a rise in companies attempting to be more sustainable with their jeans, Hollister has barely made a dent in the competition pool for sustainable jeans.
Desired Response: To raise the click-through rate along with sales, more ads need to be promoted and featured through email and social media.
Target Audience:
Primary Audience: Infrequent users/Competition Users
Secondary Audience: Brand loyalists
Income: Middle class. Regular prices are expensive and can be over $50. They do offer sales often that make their jeans more affordable. Note: 64% of Americans are willing to spend more on sustainable products.
Education: High school and College, based on target age range.
Target age range: 16-25. 70% of 18-35 year olds worry about the climate (Ballew et al., 2019). Hollister as a company caters to teenagers and collaborates with influencers who are popular among teenagers. An example is last year’s collaboration with Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, who are influencers from TikTok.
Media usage habits: 59% of teens and young adults spend 3 or more hours a day on social media (Adgate, 2021).
Consumer Insights: Buyers are motivated by the style and the aesthetic of the brand. The brand has been Cali tailored since its creation. Some consumers are also motivated to save the planet. Current people in the target market don’t believe businesses' plans when they announce sustainability incentives. 53% of people don’t believe companies that say they’re going to be sustainable (Koch & Harris, 2021).
Many consumers become Hollister buyers through their jeans. When using the D’Amelio sisters, they were able to increase jeans sales specifically due to the jeans being stretchy, well-fitting, and durable enough to dance in. This allowed an increase in sales by 21% for women and 9% for males (Newton, 2022).
There are mixed reviews about the brand overall. Seems the consensus is that it’s perfectly okay for teenagers but cringey for anyone over 20. However, jeans are not age-exclusive items.
Brand Imperatives:
The important features of Hollister is that they’re a brand that tries to promote a feeling of summer California vibes. They appeal to the young and fun crowd. The relationship that they offer is one where you’re able to buy affordable clothing that’s in style and that makes you feel young.
Hollister’s competition is Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, and Aeropostale. Hollister is owned by Abercrombie, so their advantage is that they’re more affordable than Abercrombie, but also the quality isn’t the same compared to Abercrombie. Aeropostale is different in that they’re cheaper altogether and usually suited for teens only. Hollister and American Eagle are very similar in that they’re for teens to 20-year old’s and that they can be around the same price point. The style is similar, and they too offer sustainable jeans. Hollister's advantage is that they’re cheaper and some might prefer the fit of Hollister jeans compared to American Eagle.
American Eagle: Saves 7 gallons of water per pair of jeans, 38 million plastic bottles used to be recycled into polyester, and donated like 500 jeans.
Hollister: Saves 30% of water used to produce denim, 25% sustainable cotton, and recyclable bags and shipping bags.
Communication Objectives: In response to our message, we want consumers to trust us with their jeans buying decisions. We would like to see an increase in sales for our sustainable jeans.
We’re going to use perception, cognition, persuasion, and eventually association to improve click-throughs and sales with our ads. We want to grab attention with strong headers and captivating images while teaching consumers about our initiative to help the planet. We want to persuade consumers to buy our jeans that are sustainably made and get to the point where Hollister jeans and sustainability are thought of together automatically.
Proposition or selling data: Since 53% of consumers don’t believe in companies planet-saving initiatives, we’re going to give them proof. Not only will we be making sustainable jeans be more well-known, but we’ll also give consumers what they need to believe.
Support: Consumers are going to believe because they have proof. The support to provide our proposition is to do what other companies haven’t. We can do more than just advertise our jeans, we want to show them what we’re doing and how. We’re going to show consumers the proof, not just words and percentages.
Creative Direction: We can best stimulate our desired response by placing more ads, and doing an email and social media campaign. In order to fix consumers' distrust of brands that claim to be sustainable, we should show what we’re doing. A behind the scenes of how jeans are made and a behind the scenes of sustainable cotton. The tone and vibe should be fun but serious and endless summer free.
Ad examples:
Copy: Respect the jeans, Respect the planet! These jeans aren’t only respectable, but they’re also sustainable by allowing us to save 30% of water consumption with each pair. Join us in helping to protect our green earth by shopping more sustainably. See what we’re doing (link to video).
Images:
For E-mail campaign: Teens and young adults outside skating with skateboards or roller skates in a park that offers greenery.
For women targeted ads: Girls climbing a tree in a green park
For men targeted ads: Guys hanging outside in a place with stairs and rails, but greenery must be present.
*Note: Genders are not exclusive and apply to those who prefer to identify by either, none, or both. Greenery can be replaced with beach vibes based on which video they are showing.
Media Imperatives: Ads should be placed in emails, social media accounts, and online. They should be released once they’ve been approved and checked for inaccuracies. All will lead to pages with videos and information. Email and online ads will allow consumers to go to the social media accounts where they can also ask questions and interact. This gives the company a chance to directly respond. These ads can also be turned into online catalogs that give the consumer one spot to look at all the sustainable options.
Works Cited
Adgate, B. (2021, December 10). Media habits are changing rapidly for young adults, making ad targeting more challenging. Forbes. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/10/07/media-habits-are-changing-rapidly-for-young-adults-making-targeting-more-challenging/?sh=95490c633031
Ballew, M., Marlon, J., Rosenthal, S., Kotcher, J., Maibach , E., & Leiserowitz, A. (2019, June 12). Do younger generations care more about global warming? Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-younger-generations-care-more-about-global-warming/
Koch, M., & Harris, Z. (2021, March 22). GreenPrint survey finds consumers want to buy eco-friendly products, but don't know how to identify them. Business Wire. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210322005061/en/GreenPrint-Survey-Finds-Consumers-Want-to-Buy-Eco-Friendly-Products-but-Don%E2%80%99t-Know-How-to-Identify-Them
Newton, M. (2022, January 23). Hollister Jeans. Life Real Estate. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.liferealestate.us/hollister-jeans/
