See the Modern Face of Fur in S2A's International Fur Federation Spots

The International Fur Federation (IFF) has developed a global  fashion campaign to communicate the modern face of fur and to break down stereotypes around what fur is and who wears it. 

The mainly digital push named Fur Now, which launches in early October, includes social media, blogger outreach, video, mobile and gifs designed with a view to go viral. The campaign also includes print media targeting leading fashion titles in key global markets. The focus on digital communications represents a significant departure for the industry which has tended to rely on traditional above the line media.

The campaign is built around images of men and women wearing beautiful, contemporary fur items in eye- catching, sometimes surprising ways, all designed for sharing online.  Fur is a key trend in the 2014 autumn/winter collections and the campaign channels this ‘right for now’ zeitgeist.

While the look and feel of the campaign as well as the focus of its media plan unashamedly targets a youthful demographic, the IFF sees the buzz it hopes to generate more broadly on and offline as crucial for rekindling interest and a reassessment of fur among consumers of all ages.

Sitting at the heart of the drive is a high energy, fast-paced one minute video showing a collection of diverse fur looks in bright colours on male and female models dancing to Para One feat Jaw – When the Night.  The video opens with a model wearing large black fur headphones, followed by a shot of a fur-trimmed clutch bag that quickly switches to a purple hooded jacket. Other unusual fur items include a fur baseball outfit including fur epaulettes, kneepads and glove; a male dancer wearing fur slippers and matching cuffs; a model sporting a pair of iconic fur lined glasses and a bearded hipster with a fur parka and fur-trimmed pipe. The video closes with a sequence of shots with the campaign title, ‘Fur Now’ on different coloured fur backgrounds.

To build anticipation in advance of the launch, French agency S2A Consulting - who created, directed and shot the video and handled all aspects of the campaign - invited two of the most influential fashion bloggers behind the scene on the day of the shoot.  Bryan Boy and Gala Gonzalez used their social media platforms to push out comments and pictures of their experience to generate interest in the campaign and fur more broadly amongst their huge audience of followers.  Just one ‘selfie' posted by Bryan Boy wearing a purple hooded Kenzo jacket used in the shoot generated 7,678 likes. The IFF also saw over three million impressions of the hashtag #furnow during the two days of the shoot and generated over 50,000 likes on instagram over the same period.

Bryan Boy and Gala Gonzalez will continue to support the initiative for its three-month run.  The IFF has also built further global blogger outreach into the programme as it launches early in October.

Animated gifs have been lifted from key scenes in the longer video and six of the most eye-catching, iconic stills from the shoot will act as the print campaign images. In a similar vein, three short 20 second teaser videos will be seeded shortly before the campaign launch via social media and the IFF’s owned media platforms as well as a carefully targeted blogger community in order to drive interest.

The media plan, which is predominantly digital, mobile and social, includes Conde Nast’s Vogue Italy website;  style.com – including a home page takeover and sponsorship of its weekly newsletter; and Vogue US mobile for the whole of October.  The video will also run as a pre-roll on YouTube for the first three weeks of October.

Commenting on the campaign, Mark Oaten, CEO, IFF said: “In recent times, fur has changed beyond belief. New techniques and innovations have brought bright colours and lighter garments that appeal to consumers young and old, male and female. Our campaign aims to communicate this contemporary face of fur in a fun, upbeat way.

“Communicating this new face of fur required a radical rethink of the type of campaign approach we chose.  This is why for the first time we have gone firmly down the digital/social media route. The luxury sector has traditionally been slow to this type of media, and fur has perhaps been later to the party than many in this space. However the shareable, viral and conversational nature of digital and social media means it is the best choice to communicate the new and modern face of fur and to generate global buzz and interest in the way fur is evolving.”