Wavemaker helps G-Star find its perfect fit

The iconic fashion brand which enjoys a loyal fan base, G-Star is savvy example of how a you can dominate in your lane, while still keeping an eye on new ways to positively provoke.

With a strong share of search and lucrative website traffic, digital is the key sales platform for G-star and it is critical for the brand to maintain a dominant online presence. Simultaneously, while maintaining the G-star brand, reaching new prospective buyers and ‘filling the funnel’ is critical in keeping the brand in a competitive position for years to come.

For the ‘The Next Big Thing’ campaign, balancing both these short-term and long-term objectives was key, especially as each require vastly different approaches in media.

Enter Wavemaker South Africa. Our goal was to drive buzz and awareness for G-Star in S.A., with a focus on the age group 18-44, and our targeting was nationwide. Heavily leaning into the lucrative TV space, we opted for contextual packages to capture our audience within relevant environments, while our out-of-home (OOH) efforts were centered around tiered cities – more specifically in shopping areas – to reinforce messaging. Alongside this, we invested in digital OOH to drive visibility and repetition within Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal areas.

G-Star partnered with Whisper Media to have incremental reach and an extremely captive audience on TV. So, what does Whisper Media do? They use new technology to create in-content advertising, placing the brand in the focus of an audience while they are undistracted and immersed in a program through ‘appointment viewing’. Audiences decode the advertising message without being sold to, with the feel-good factor of having spotted something subtle with an implied program and talent endorsement.

The results? The campaign’s gross rating point was 21%, causing a significant drop in CPP. Additionally, reach level was met, which means that over one million people within this target market saw the campaign at least once. Overall, the inclusion of Whisper Media increased our reach by 6%. This resulted in over one million people reached in our target market.