Wills Lifestyle adds holograms to social media axioms with #MannequinsOnABreak

Mannequins play a crucial role in clothing stores for displaying the latest trend; nevertheless, they can never be confused with real people, can they?

Think about it, you walk in a store and there are no mannequins standing tall with clichéd poses staring at you, wouldn’t the store look dull and empty?  

Taking a you turn from the drab ramp-walkers oriented campaigns, Wills Lifestyle combined technology and fashion, bringing the most distinctive and creative way for displaying its AW'15 collection Live from the runway giving mannequins a break!

Mannequins on a break

The main objective of the campaign is to display the festive AW’15 collection in an eccentric and exclusive manner to their audience and also to promote their technology-enabled marketing by using holograms instead of the same old mannequins.

The execution of the campaign is not only on Facebook and Twitter but also Instagram, while the DVCs are uploaded on YouTube. The activity has been segregated into different phases that are supposed to go live throughout the month of November.

The DVCs showcase how over-worked, stressed and bored mannequins leave the store, enter cafes and plan to take a holiday.

Wills Lifestyle used holograms displaying their AW’15 collection live from the runway as opposed to the usual dummies, making window shoppers intrigued and curious about what the activity is all about.

Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Atul Chand, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC Lifestyle Retailing Business, said, " Being at the helm of creativity, we have integrated modern technology with fashion yet again this season thereby creating a unique way to display our new collection and enriching consumer experience in the brick and mortar world. The objective is to create awareness about the new season collection and drive people to the store for one of its kind brand experience."

Mannequins going on a break? We're still wondering why... #MannequinsOnABreak #talkingmannequins #mannequins #hatemyjob #needabreak #holiday #vacay #rant #funny

A photo posted by Wills Lifestyle (@willslifestyle) on Nov 5, 2015 at 6:46am PST

This might seem funny, but our mannequins are pretty serious about going on a break! #talkingmannequins #MannequinsOnABreak #mannequins #storedisplay #funny #needabreak #vacation #holiday #willslifestyle A photo posted by Wills Lifestyle (@willslifestyle) on Nov 3, 2015 at 10:05pm PST

What worked well 

Stepping away from usual model oriented ads, managed in creating a distinctive identity amidst the clutter.

The videos also made entertaining pieces of content, thus functioning as great hooks for the campaign.

The story line of mannequins needing a break was relatable and created a subtle connect with the brand's objective, thus going beyond hard sell.

What could have been better.

Although, the idea behind #MannequinsOnABreak is distinctive, the social media push in the activity needed a jolt to reach out to a larger audience.

According to Topsy, there were only 10 tweets with the hashtag #MannequinsOnABreak on Twitter, a contest could’ve helped the brand increase the engagement.

For Instance, Ogilvy and Mather conceptualised a campaign in Dot Mall, Buenos Aires where the mannequins were replaced with the facial structure of the real time DOT shoppers.

Adding a social media element, the customers were asked to submit their picture on the mall’s official page and the pictures that received maximum number of likes, were converted into My-nnequins,

Applying high-level tech to retail marketing helped in yielding greater results on social with the help of strategising.  This is only the beginning of a new advertising era using technology at its best.