Topshop Topman and Virtue launch 'Date Dash' mini-series for Gen Z shoppers
Topshop Topman, in collaboration with Vice Media’s creative agency Virtue, launched ‘Date Dash’: a competitive dating show where compatibility is found through style.
The campaign is one fueled to gain relevance with Gen Z consumers, featuring participants who are of the same age group.
“We believe, in order to reach a Gen Z audience, brands need to be entertaining and contributing rather than demanding,” said Gemma Knox, managing director of Virtue Northern Europe. “Being able to capitalize on Vice’s insights, channels, talent production facilities and ability to tell stories, we are confident that we can help embed them in the world of a young audience by truly adding value to it.”
In each of the six 3-minute-30-second episodes, two contestants are stationed in Topshop Topman branches across the Glasgow, Manchester and London regions of the UK. They are then given 2 minutes to assemble an outfit from the store’s inventory to try and woo their suitor, who will in turn choose the person to date based on their ensemble.
The first episode is featured on both Topshop and Topman’s respective websites and introduces the suitor and each contestant with short bios, posted just below the video. Along with the blurbs are links to the individual articles of clothing that each person is wearing in the episode, where they can be readily purchased online.
“The Topshop Topman purpose is to deliver empowering fashion that fuels our customers’ creative spirits to look and feel their best selves,” said Jason Griffiths, group brand and communications director at Topshop Topman. “We have focused our efforts on producing dynamic content that entertains, informs and emotionally connects our audience.
“Partnering with Virtue has taken us in a new direction, one that shines a spotlight on entertainment-first content that inspires in an inclusive, fun way.”
The campaign comes after a tumultuous year at Vice Media, which has led to a restructuring of its ad agency.