Fashion brands usually spend millions on models. And the client,

photographer, and casting agency spend weeks and weeks on

deciding who to use in the ads. In this campaign, we wanted to

show that Åhléns sees beauty in everyone, so we decided to ditch

that entire process. Which means no selection, and no exclusion.

Instead, we invited everyone to model, and the Nirst 100 people

who showed up, became Åhléns’ new faces. For two days, we

turned Åhléns’ biggest department store into a photo studio.

There were stylists, make-up artists, fashion photographers,

retouchers and a Nilm director. We completed the ads one after

the other and immediately published them on Facebook,

Instagram, ahlens.se – and on digital billboards. During these

two days we also made nine Nilms, that started rolling just 36

hours after the event.

The campaign started with the invitation phase. We created a

Facebook event, sent an e-mail to Åhléns club members and

made posts on Instagram and Facebook. Three days before the

event, we also had a full page ad in Metro. The second phase was

the actual event, which took place in Åhléns’ biggest department

store during two full days. During this event, we created the

campaign together with the customers. As soon as the ads were

done (which happened throughout the event), they were

displayed on Instagram, Facebook, ahlens.se, storefront windows

and digital billboards. 36 hours after the event, the nine Nilms

started rolling on tv and online. The campaign was up for three

weeks in paid media, and a bit longer in Åhléns’ own channels,

where we, among other things, posted behind-the-scenes

material and a big thank you to the models.

The immediate response was massive: on both days of the event,

a long line formed outside the store even before it opened, and

the 100 participation spots were Nilled right away. Some people

drove for hours to take part. In social media, this was one of

Åhléns most successful campaigns ever, with nearly 1,500,000

interactions on Facebook and Instagram, and over 10,300,000

impressions total. On Åhléns’ e-com website, trafNic increased by

250%.

And most rewarding: people praised Åhléns for using real

people, being truly inclusive, writing comments like: ”–Probably

the best fashion campaign ever. So many beautiful women and

clothes.” ”–I get goosebumps. This is the greatest campaign ever.”

”–What a fun and inspiring idea. Way to go Åhléns!” ”–Thank you

to all the staff for an amazing campaign. An experience I will

never forget.”