Jigsaw: Case study

Credits & Description:

Brand JIGSAW
Entrant THE CORNER LONDON
THE CORNER London, United Kingdom Entrant Company
THE CORNER London, United Kingdom Idea Creation
Tom Ewart The Corner Copywriter / Art Director
Synopsis
As we prepared for our AW17 campaign, we watched the conversation around Brexit intensify, turning immigration into a dirty word.
And as a diverse and globally minded company, it felt wrong to continue ‘marketing as usual’. While we were acutely aware of the dangers of straying beyond our own remit, we concluded that if a brand can make a credible link between what they and their consumer care about, there is legitimate reason to get involved.
So we faced a tough decision: Do we keep our mouths shut, or do we speak up when everyone else remained silent?
Sourced from 16 different countries, designed by 45 different nationalities, this range was definitively pro-immigration. We wanted to remind people why that mattered.
Our statement of purpose was ‘to show an increasingly hate minded high street the beautiful side of immigration’.
We sharpened our objectives to reflect this to help Jigsaw:
• Drive a new positive conversation about the benefits of immigration onto the high street, pushing back against negativity.
• Drive renewed awareness and respect for Jigsaw.
• Strive for new trial amongst like minded non-customers, reaching beyond our core demographic of 25-45 year old women
Strategy
Our target was high street shoppers, aged 25 plus, who appreciate unique style and were looking for something more authentic than fast-fashion alternatives.

The campaign was grounded in Style & Truth, our 2013 rebranding of Jigsaw that created the brand purpose; clarifying and distinguishing the brand’s belief system that defines everything they do. In preparation for the AW17 campaign, we included recent interviews with Jigsaw employees at all levels to develop an honest understanding of the people who work for the brand and their experiences during such a divisive time.
We knew we would have to conjure high impact from a low budget, which had implications for both our choice of message and media. We landed on a provocative truth as a start point for creative thinking: ‘borders hold us back’. Jigsaw are for diversity, openness and tolerance, not just as a matter of principle but a fact of business.
Outcome
The campaign was voted as Marketing Week’s campaign of the year by the marketing community and 'Most Contagious' by Contagious magazine.
More importantly, it demonstrated genuine cultural traction when featured by the BBC current affairs programme Panorama, around the issue of immigration.
And the V&A Museum in London have requested to include it within their permanent display.
And in a show of solidarity, in a difficult trading environment, with high street shoppers spending more cautiously, consumers supported our AW17 Collection - which has also been a sales success. Products featured within the campaign have experienced a +89% sales lift, with the whole collection currently 12% ahead of targets.
With a total spend of £200k for media, our manifesto proved to be a powerful communication tool helping us reach a sentiment score of 61%.
Even the mayor of London got involved and shared the campaign on his social channels.
Execution
With a modest media budget of £200k, different thinking was required to get the brand talked about and raise awareness of our pro-immigration stance.
Rather than a fashion campaign, we set out to create a movement. A two-week Oxford Circus domination acted as the focal point of our campaign and provided standout in a key shopping area with extremely high footfall.
News environments made the message feel ‘of the moment’, appearing alongside ever-present Brexit related coverage.
Double page spreads and online takeovers across the Evening Standard, Guardian and Times provided further standout.
With positive sentiment being generated online, we amplified our message using a paid approach across Facebook, Instagram and partnered with Ancestry.co.uk where Jigsaw staff took DNA tests to demonstrate their cultural diversity.
Our campaign went viral, becoming the most famous fashion campaign of the year. It received over 79 million social impressions, with endorsements from MPs to artists.
Campaign Description
Our creative solution was simply to speak out against the tirade of negativity and hate being appropriated to immigration, and put forward a different, positive point of view. To honour the debt we owed to immigration.
Led by a provocative call to action, ‘heart immigration’ and a pro immigration manifesto we used social and a prominent OOH campaign in central London to encourage positive debate around what is means to be British.
The manifesto was written from the heart, but there were facts to back it up too. Fabric sourcing, employment diversity and even DNA profiling of employees provided more tangible evidence to support our inclusive yet provocative message.
The resulting advertising perfectly captured the spirit of Jigsaw: the staff, the clothes, the history and the purpose. On the whole fashion tends to deal with the superficial, but this moment in time demanded something different. Something meaningful.
Brief With Projected Outcomes
Brexit Britain 2017. Across the UK reports of racist attacks were on the increase, the media talked incessantly of ‘foreigners in’ and ‘foreigners out’ and the country felt more divided than ever. ‘Immigration’ had become a dirty word. An acceptable form of racism. Alongside many other UK businesses in the wake of the referendum, our trading environment was turned upside down:
• Internally, our employees were subjected to numerous examples of racial abuse in store. 65% of store staff hold EU passports and were unsure of their future.
• Financially, we were forced to absorb the impact of a rapidly devaluing currency, as sterling hit a 31 year low, 17% down vs the dollar, effectively ripping 20% off our bottom line
• Operationally, we had to refocus energy on our overseas partners and suppliers, to reassure them of our future together, to renew and protect relationships that had been built up, often over decades.