H&M

For many years, H&M’s Back to School campaign has been a hero element of our annual strategy, focused on raising awareness of their Kids leisurewear and School Uniform collections. The primary goal of this campaign was to drive long-term awareness and position H&M as the go-to fashion destination for parents, targeting both online and in-store shoppers throughout the summer holidays.

The creative theme, “Everyone’s Invited,” showcased the collection’s versatility. However, no creative assets were supplied for the School Uniform range, presenting challenges in paid media promotion and reducing options for paid campaign support.

The Brief

Our approach was to maintain a consistent, always-on presence throughout the summer holiday period, front-weighting deliveries across channels to maximise impact during high-stock periods. Due to limited budget and creative restrictions across the School Uniform campaign, combined with fierce competition from supermarkets investing heavily in the schoolwear market, the challenge was to cut through the noise and capture parents’ attention during key purchasing periods.

Our solution involved a strategic, two-pronged approach: launching the campaign for two weeks at the end of the school term and re-engaging in the final two weeks of the summer holidays. This approach allowed us to target critical decision-making windows effectively.

What We Did

Our Back to School campaign aimed to cut through the crowded market through well-timed activations across various high-traffic and contextually relevant channels.

1. Out-of-Home (OOH): We went live across OOH locations with high dwell times, such as cinemas, leisure centres, and gyms – places where parents are likely to share summer moments with their children. A standout element of this strategy was the High Street Kensington Gallery, a strategic choice near popular London museums, ensuring visibility to parents visiting cultural sites with their families. This was supplemented by large format and reach OOH placements in retail environments, converting foot traffic into in-store visits. Dynamic creative was used to provide directional information, enhancing convenience for parents seeking a nearby H&M location.
2. Digital Video Advertising (BVOD and OLV): To build brand affinity in shared viewing environments, we ran Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD) and Online Video (OLV) platforms. This encouraged shared parent-child viewing moments, strengthening brand recall and reinforcing H&M as a family-orientated retailer.
3. Audio Advertising with Spotify: For the School Uniform segment, we partnered with Spotify, focusing on parenting-centric content. By collaborating with the popular Parenting Hell podcast, we delivered targeted host-read ads, a choice that brought H&M’s message into a familiar and trusted environment for parents. This strategy resonated well with our audience, enhancing H&M’s brand positioning and amplifying positive perceptions around quality and range.