ASOS | Urban Tour | 2012
Click and Time Stops / ASOS "Urban Tour"
Click on a dancer, and everyone around them freezes while that one person keeps moving. Then you can buy what they're wearing. Incredibly simple, and incredibly new for its time.
The problem
ASOS was strong with women but barely known among men. With H&M and UNIQLO outspending them on advertising, the challenge was building awareness among men aged 18 to 25 and driving sales of ASOS's own higher-margin brand.
The insight
Young men take their style cues from the street and from culture, not fashion magazines. That's what BBH bet on. Not the catwalk, but culture.
The idea
Three films were shot in London, Paris, and Tokyo, featuring some of the world's top street dancers. Click on a dancer and everything around them freezes, while that dancer keeps moving. You could click on their outfit right then and buy it. Built with a hybrid of Flash and HTML, it even worked on iPad.
What happened
The campaign won a Gold Lion in the Design category at Cannes Lions. BBH also won Agency of the Year at the Webby Awards, thanks in part to this project alongside their work with Google.
Afterthought
The idea of freezing time isn't new on its own, but turning it into something you click through interactively, and linking it straight to a shopping cart, was a bold move. Showing off culture while selling clothes at the same time, that double layer was way ahead of its time for 2012. I wish I could have clicked too.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2012
