In the UK, Aldi is a discount supermarket that famously doesn’t sell brands. They sell lookalike grocery products for a fraction of the cost. On one hand, there’s a lot of people who love Aldi, naming them Britain’s Favourite Supermarket. But on the other hand, there’s a certain category of people who don’t love Aldi – affluent shoppers. They think low cost means low quality, and that’s a stereotype Aldi has struggled to shift amongst the wealthier community.

Conveniently, thousands of affluent shoppers were all flocking to Manchester, which is Aldi’s home turf, for Chanel’s Métiers d’Art runway show. So, it was the perfect moment to get their attention and change their perceptions of Aldi. We needed to prove to them that the products they love don’t have to come from the expensive brands they know.

We did what Aldi always do – offered a low-cost alternative to a big name. Only this wasn’t an alternative to a big- name product, it was an alternative to a big-name supermodel. We hired a fake Kate Moss to do her grocery shopping at the Aldi next door to Chanel’s runway show, complete with a fake security guard and some fake paparazzi to add to the illusion. And it wasn’t a £6,500 Chanel bag she was photographed with – it was a 65p Aldi grocery bag.

We led Chanel’s high-brow audience to believe that Kate herself popped into Aldi for some bargains. They never considered shopping at Aldi, but now it was all they were talking about. Then with one single post, we lifted the curtain and told the affluent shoppers they’d been duped by our dupe. And it only made them love Aldi more.

Aldi have built a brand as the internet’s favourite supermarket. They’re a lovable disrupter and are proudly democratising groceries. High-flying fashionistas aren’t their usual demographic, but by channelling their challenger mentality, we could appeal to these affluent shoppers in a way that stopped their thumbs and made them want to get involved.

We had to hijack our way in with a stunt that was organic, authentic and unfolded in real time. We created a real moment that people could interact with and hold the reigns. Journalists were doing everything they could to get the story and BBC journalists even interviewed the coffee shop “Kate” went in. And it was all earned. Not a single penny was spent on media, or journalist tipped off. It was built by the upmarket audience we were trying to reach.

Chanel had all the power; they announced their runway show just 72 hours before the first supermodel took to the catwalk and didn’t give us long to react. So, we did what Aldi often do, take the power away from the brands and give it back to the people – because we needed Kate’s upmarket fashionista fans to create all the publicity for us.

We hired Denise Ohnona, the world’s best Kate Moss lookalike, plus a fake security guard and two fake paparazzi, and planted them in the Aldi nearby the morning of the show. She did her grocery shopping at 10am and then took to the streets next to Chanel’s big event at 11am, creating a frenzy on social and in the national news. We let the fashionistas in Manchester make all the noise, then we claimed it for our own.

Fake Moss was photographed the second she walked into Aldi and within 5 minutes it was all over social media. Journalists were begging for the story and radio hosts were frantically calling for interviews. “Does Kate Moss really shop at Aldi?” We generated a staggering £65m in earned media, from a media spend of £0.

Previously, affluent shoppers and fashionistas alike never considered Aldi, but now it was all they could talk about. Aldi leapfrogged Chanel’s Métiers d'Art show on X and trended number 1 ahead of it, and sparked 800k social engagements in a conversation it was once never part of and gained 50k new fans and followers.

Our upmarket target audience were once too ashamed to shop at Aldi, but after Fake Moss, Aldi’s humble 65p grocery bag become a fashion accessory they wore with pride – with sales increasing 75% in the days after.