The ‘Impressions’ campaign for Boody was a photographic campaign that ran in outdoor and on social. The only copy on the campaign’s hero executions is the brand’s own tagline and logo, so design played an enormous role in how the message of the campaign and the definition of the brand was communicated to consumers.

The campaign advertised Boody as a brand, not a particular product, but yes, Boody’s women’s underwear range is available for purchase through their online store and in select pharmacies.

This campaign built upon the cultural groundswell for female body positivity and diverse beauty that had been shifting the fashion industry for years, and reflected the cresting public interest in gender equality that defined the second half of 2023. The Matildas were front-page news, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was smashing the box office, and No Doubt’s Just A Girl was trending again for the first time since 1995. As a brand dedicated to social good, with women’s products designed for comfort above all, Boody was perfectly placed to contribute to public discourse about women’s bodies, how they’re perceived, how they actually are, and how they’re catered to by society.

Boody was on a mission to ‘own comfort’ in their category, leveraging the unique benefits of their bamboo underwear to drive sales. Research shows that women spend a cumulative 27 years in physical discomfort. While much of that discomfort is attributable to biological factors no fashion label can solve, we also found that 50% of women take their bras off as soon as they get home, and that 30% of women say uncomfortable underwear negatively affects their mood.

With generations of women socially conditioned to believe that womanhood equals discomfort, accepting long ago that there was no alternative, women had learned to endure. They’d stopped talking about it. So, we resolved to get them talking by demonstrating on a large, public scale that women do deserve to demand better from their underwear drawers. And that Boody is that ‘better’.

Budget: $255,000 (ex. media)

Scale: 8 executions, 250 placements Sydney-wide

Unlike many other forms of discomfort that are invisible and known only to the sufferer, the particular kind of discomfort Boody wanted to talk about leaves evidence on a woman’s skin. In those reddened marks, one can almost feel the way her bra and underwear have dug, rubbed, itched and squeezed her body. We reasoned that, when it comes to women’s underwear, the best impression a brand can make is no impression at all, and so our campaign was conceived.

The concept met Boody’s ambition to distinguish themselves from their competitors and generated a strong sense of relatability to the problem of women’s physical discomfort; simultaneously, we presented Boody as an appealing answer by applying a sensitive, highly detailed focus to each stage of the design process.

Photography: Our photographer has an outstanding empathy for the female body and brings an enigmatic, painterly quality to her work. Through her point-of-view, we achieved the sensitivity we hoped for.

Lighting and grade: Even without showing any product, this is still a fashion campaign. Finding a balance between relatable warmth and stark confrontation was paramount to keep the campaign from feeling too clinical.

Branding: The branded ‘Boody Bar’ cuts through the centre of each execution as an homage to vandalism, protests and censorship. We used it as a way to ‘cancel’ discomfort and present Boody’s invitation to Make Yourself Comfortable as the only acceptable way forward.

Composition: In our landscape executions, we laid portraits and macro shots of the models’ marked skin side-by-side, juxtaposing beautiful bodies with the physical evidence of how women can be restrained by expectation.

In promoting a brand that aims to leave no impression on the body, our ‘Impressions’ campaign made a considerable impression on our audience.

36% increase in new customers

22% increase in online sales

400% increase in online searches for Boody

Comments on Boody’s owned social media channels reinforced the impact of the campaign with statements like ‘so relatable’, ‘powerful’, ‘genius and revolutionary’, ‘speechless’ and ‘obsessed with this campaign’ capturing the powerful impression our campaign left.

Not only did we increase Boody’s visibility, but we also prompted women to reconsider the discomfort they’ve tolerated for too long.