Zalora wants to 'own the night' with racy film

According to Tito Costa, Zalora’s regional MD, the objective of the campaign was to excite the brand's young and fast-adapting consumers, showing them that with the right outfit one can conquer the world. “It perfectly complements the celebratory mood of the season and highlights fun times and living in the moment,” he added.  

The online film targets fashion-conscious young professionals in Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The fashion company has worked with production company Blacksheep Live and Google to create the video. The video will be promoted online through YouTube display ads, direct mails, onsite, and social media. There is also a shorter film to fit television in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The campaign is part of the ecommerce company’s ‘Own Now’ brand positioning, launched in June, and marks its first online content. The brand campaign embodies a fashion movement envisioned by Zalora to ‘own’ whatever moment you find yourself in, Costa noted. “It’s about giving you the confidence through fashion and empowering you to take on your world in style.”

The latest campaign fits in with the firm’s ambitious multi-channel marketing plan aimed to target the US$80 billion fashion market in Southeast Asia.

At ad:tech earlier this year, Costa said Zalora will continue to focus on Southeast Asia, where internet access is growing very fast and the adoption of social networks nears 100 per cent. Many of the metro cities in the region are the top 10 biggest markets for Facebook. Mobile is a big revenue area for the e-commerce website. “Smartphones are changing the way people use the internet and shop online,” Costa said. “The rollout of 3G in several markets in the region has meant that search on smartphones is exceptionally high.”

For Zalora, social and mobile are the largest customer-acquisition channels, and as such most of the company’s marketing budget is skewed to digital.

In October, it opened doors to Southeast Asia's "first digital pop-up store". Customers at the shop will be able to view products in-store, try them on and then scan the barcode before processing their purchases at the self-serve checkout, which will later be delivered to their doorstep.

In partnership with Samsung, the store is fitted with Galaxy tablets and free WiFi so that customers can browse lookbooks for products and styling tips.

Online reaction

Reactions to the new campaign on social media have been tepid. Commentators on YouTube show more interest in the background score, while a Facebook post about the campaign on Zalora’s official page hasn’t generated buzz. Twitterati were far more generous with their posts.

Campaign's comments

Although sexy and playful, the video is fairly generic and doesn’t really establish a direct link to the product. We don’t blame you if you thought it was an ad for a beer brand.