Ted Baker enlists help of social influencers for first North American campaign
British luxury apparel brand Ted Baker has launched its first North American-specific campaign as the clothing company continues to grow its presence in the US and expands into the Canadian and Mexican markets.
Called ‘Ted Baker’s Explorer’s Club,’ the digital and social campaign features six travel photographers, each with more than 50,000 Instagram followers, as they explore “wondrous, unexpected” places in their own cities – which also happen to be some of Ted Baker’s key markets. The company has more than 20 stores throughout North America and sells its items in a number of department stores, like Bloomingdales.
Each of the social media influencers will be promoting the campaign on their Instagram accounts with photos of the different sites they have discovered along with the hashtag ‘#TedBakerAW15.’
Ted Baker will also be promoting the ‘Explorer’s Club’ on its own account, and a page on the company’s website will host urban guides created by each of the photographers, which include Kristen Alana from New York City, Edward Row from Toronto, and Jenny Abrams from Miami.
Craig Smith, Ted Baker’s global brand communication director, told The Drum that ‘Explorer’s Club’ helps the brand engage and interact with both dedicated followers and a new audience that it may have not been able to reach before.
“It is about making more people aware of the brand and the exciting and innovative activities Ted is constantly doing,” he said.
Even as the company aims to increase awareness of its brand in the North American market, it has no plans to stray away from its ad-free roots. Ted Baker has never relied on traditional advertising elements, like TV, print, or out-of-home, to get its message out. Instead, it uses window displays, in-store giveaways, events, and digital initiatives to engage with consumers.
As Instagram’s popularity has grown over the past few years, the apparel brand has leveraged the platform with a number of intricate campaigns, like its recently-launched global ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ that prompts its followers to participate in a treasure hunt.
Yet Smith said that the North American campaign is different from past efforts since it focuses on content generated by influencers instead of user generated content.
Ted Baker worked with New York-based digital agency Moving Image & Content to create ‘Explorer’s Club.’ The campaign will also run on various travel and fashion websites like Travel & Leisure and GQ.