Topshop and Hunter to launch digital OOH campaigns during LFW

Although fashion week is all about showcasing the latest clothing and trends to launch next season, British brands such a Topshop and Hunter Original aim to present their current collections center stage this Friday when London Fashion Week kicks off on large scale outdoor screens.

Both high street labels will use large digital screens across the country, working with agency Ocean Outdoor's, to show real-time out-of-home (OOH) adverts to the public which will showcase their London Fashion Week events and promoting their current collections. The move aims to tap into the hype built around fashion weeks and ensure the public's interest in the upcoming season is held by offering them immediate trend satisfaction.

A number of designers have begun launching limited edition runway products which are available for sale directly after their fashion week shows, such as Jeremy Scott for Moschino, who released the "Fast-fashion - Next Day After the Runway collection" for Autumn/Winter 14-15 or Tommy Hilfiger, who launched two of its pieces from its catwalk show during New York Fashion Week for sale right after the event.

Topshop and Hunter Original embrace digital OOH campaigns to engage with the public during London Fashion Week

However, British brands Topshop and Hunter Originals taken this concept one step further by promoting current collection alongside of their new season shows. Hunter will first start their digital initiative by live streaming its runway show on Monday, February 23 across all nine of its screens, a digital first for the industry.

Messages will be shown alongside the live-streamed show, which encourage people to visit its website and the label will also introduce a content takeover on the landing page for wi-fi enable sites for individuals who log on the site through their mobiles. Hunter Originals will continue with its digital campaign for three days after it's show and will present items from its new Autumn/Winter 15 collection alongside with similar items already for sale this season.

"Collaborating with Ocean on this UK first was a great fit for Hunter, recognising our shared commitment to digital innovation," said Hunter’s Creative Director, Alasdhair Willis to Daily OOH. "The partnership allows us to evolve traditional live stream, leveraging Ocean’s impressive technical capabilities, to take the experience to a broader national audience." Ocean’s Head of Creative Solutions, Cat Morgan, added: "Hunter’s live feed is framed by contextual content so people in each city know that what they are seeing is live and exclusive. This collaboration is striking for its immediacy and relevance to its target audience and evidence of the power of digital out of home in the all screen environment."

Topshop, had decided to take its digital campaign one step further by teaming up with Twitter to analyse real-time data coming in through the social media platform to identify trends as they emerge. These trends will then be presented on the digital screens and people will be encouraged to tweet @Topshop using of the trend hashtags showcased on the screen in order to receive a curated shopping list of Topshop's current collection, which is inspired by the said trend.

Six digital screens, which are all within 10 minutes walking distance of a Topshop store in cities such as London, Birmingham and Leeds, will be used for their campaign during London Fashion Week as well as screening area at its Oxford Circus flagship store, which will also live stream Topshop's Unique fashion show on Sunday, February 22.

"Topshop is proud of the award-winning, innovative partnerships that have driven the democratisation of London Fashion Week over the last three years and this season is no different," said Sheena Sauvaire, global marketing and communications director. "Through Twitter’s listening power, we can allow our global consumer to shop the trends as and when they happen, and give them insight and access into runway shows. The idea of live advertising is just beginning, and thanks to the Ocean sites, this will be a first example of real-time shop-able billboards."

Bruce Daisley, managing director of Twitter UK, added: "Twitter is live, public and conversational, making it the perfect accompaniment to London Fashion Week. We are excited to be working with Topshop on a project that brings people all over the world closer to fashion week, giving them direct access to next season’s trends as soon as they emerge."