A collaboration between Pond’s and Plains and Prints
There have been precedents to this kind of crossover campaign, in (and outside of) the beauty brand. In August 2009, Pond’s came out with a weekly promo for Project Runway Philippines’ Season 2, culminating in a grand prize win of the "dream dress," one designed during the show.
A few months later in October, Pond’s came out with the Red Dress Collection, working with nine fashion designers for Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2009.
"This is not the first time that Pond’s has tied up with fashion but by collaborating with Plains & Prints... Pond’s has become more accessible compared to past promotions [with the fashion designers]," said Pond’s Assistant Brand Manager Jules Gollayan, remarking that sales increased by 20% as a result of these promotions.
This time, Plains & Prints has designed 22 dresses, 12 of which will be available at their stores beginning tomorrow while the remaining 10 will be rolled out on Aug. 5.
The dresses were inspired by eight "muses" led by Pond’s model Rissa Mananquil and Plains & Prints endorser Celine Lopez as well as Divine Lee, Apples Aberin, Kelly Misa, Patty Betita, Mai Kaufmann and Bianca Valerio.
The women are mostly models and lifestyle writers with their own sense of style. The collection that bears their names is based on their personality and style predilections.
Plains & Prints owner and head of creatives Roxanne Farillas told BusinessWorld that the goal of the collaboration is to foster a "better understanding" of beauty and fashion in the consumer, highlighting that the two are inseparable.
"While Pond’s offers the latest in skincare innovation through revolutionary beauty products, Plains & Prints offers the latest styles for fashion-forward women... a tandem that will make any woman feel beautiful inside and out," she said.
This campaign takes to the next level the apparel brand’s practice of naming separates after personal friends. Ms. Farillas said that tying a dress to a personality would at the very least heighten brand recognition.
"There’s grandeur in having this group of women all together rather than just a single endorser; it gets the message across that this is the biggest collaboration of ’fashion’s finest and beauty’s best,’" Pond’s Senior Brand Manager Jacqe Yuengtian said in a separate interview.
"We need to communicate this the right way and these muses ensure that the campaign lives up to its name," she added.
Ms. Yuengtian is the proud owner of the Jacqe, a sleeveless white shift tailored to her specifications. The dress is also part of the new collection.
Red and white are the colors of the collection because these are Pond’s colors. The two brands share the same customer base of 25- to 35-year-old women although Plains & Prints has been carrying menswear separates in their stores since February.
The style of the Pond’s-Plains & Prints collection is typical of the brand: simple, streamlined and structured into silhouettes such as the A-line, drop-waist, tulip cut, ’stingray’ cut, overlap draping and peplum hems.
The fabrics -- mostly satin and chiffon and a bit of eyelet and linen -- were imported from Hong Kong and took six months to finish, supposedly because of the meticulous attention to detail. The creation of the collection was an opportunity for the apparel brand to use new techniques such as heat-pressed stamping and digital printing on sequins.
"We are the pioneers in tying up with fashion," said Mr. Gollayan. "In fact, it is considered a good practice and is currently being studied for replication [by our counterparts] in Indonesia."
The Pond’s-Plains & Prints collection ranges from P1,300-P2,000 per item. The standard retail price for Pond’s Age Miracle (50g) is P499 while Pond’s Flawless White Day Cream (50g) is P199.
For every purchase of specially marked Pond’s Age Miracle and Pond’s Flawless White Day Cream (50g), Night Cream (50g), or Serum (30ml), the shopper will get P200 off the Pond’s-Plains & Prints dresses or P100 off any regularly-priced apparel until Sept. 15
Beauty in fashion
5:49 AM
Admin
A match made in marketing heaven, skincare brand Pond’s and apparel brand Plains & Prints have collaborated in a campaign that is expected to increase brand awareness and ultimately, achieve sales growth for this holiday season.
