2015 highly commended: THE OUTNET, Marketing on a Shoestring - case study

Launched by the Net-a-Porter Group in 2009, THE OUTNET gained a following with its curation of previous season’s fashions at a discount. While it was loved by its style conscious customers, it was still an ‘insider’s secret’. However with ambitious growth targets it needed to be less of a ‘secret’. It needed to attract new customers by establishing itself as an innovative fashion ‘player’, capable of competing with the big guys. Where better to do this than London Fashion Week?

Anyone who’s anyone in fashion attends London Fashion Week. So how could this small brand, with its shoestring budget and limited awareness, credibly assert itself among the fashion elite? Enter Sergio the Shoe Hunter – a miniature dachshund with a GoPro camera who would become THE OUTNET’s iconic canine shoe hunter. During London Fashion Week, Sergio hijacked THE OUTNET’s Twitter feed and gave his commentary live from the heart of the action and personified THE OUTNET’s unique angle on shoe style. His daily highlights, his videos and Instagram snaps were posted to a microsite. Sergio’s on-the-ground crew matched his finds with shoes available immediately on THEOUTNET.COM. 

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