Posted on 11/30/2018 7:34:37 AM PST by rickmichaels
Payless Shoesource pranked VIP shoppers into paying markups of up to 1,800 percent for the bargain retailer's shoes as part of a viral advertising campaign designed to shift consumers' perceptions of the brand. Creating a fake luxury brand Palessi Payless built a temporary store and filled it with fashionistas.
So-called fashion influencers essentially trendsetters that regular consumers look to for style cues paid up to $645 for footwear that usually retails for between $19.99 and $39.99, the company said. The fashion insiders were captured remarking on the quality of the shoes' design and fabrication before being told who had made them.
"It's just stunning. Elegant, sophisticated," one shopper said of a stiletto heel at the fake store's launch party.
"I can tell it was made with high-quality material," said a man perusing a pair of leather sneakers.
Payless enlisted advertising agency DCX Growth Accelerator to create the fake luxury store replete with a statue and gold mannequins and invited 60 influencers, recruited from the street and social media, to the made-up brand's launch party last month in Los Angeles, California.
Shoppers were told they'd receive between $100 and $250 in compensation to attend a market research event at an upscale mall in Santa Monica.
DCX Chief Creative Officer Doug Cameron said he played around with the letters in Payless to produce other store name contenders, including Elypass, which he said sounded like "a hipster store you might find in Brooklyn." Ultimately the agency decided to piggyback off the cachet of Italian design.
"We said let's give the campaign a handle, something creative that will be stickier, that an upscale retailer would really do," Cameron said. "I went on Wikipedia and looked up a list of Italian family names and saw Alessi, and added a 'P' to that. We also created a website around Palessi because we figured people would Google it."
Influencers were stunned upon learning the shoes were from Payless.
"Shut up! Are you serious?!" a shopper exclaims in one of three spots that will air on cable networks through the holiday season.
The shoppers got their money back, but were allowed to keep the shoes.
Sarah Couch, Payless's chief marketing officer, said the campaign aimed to remind shoppers that Payless strikes the right balance of stylistic relevance and affordability.
Cameron said the intention was to bring the brand back to its roots of appealing to the pragmatic American consumer. He said Payless had recently gone off track in an era of "aspiration inflation."
"We interviewed all these consumers who said they loved great styles but resented the elite prices that people would pay for industry fashion brands. We had an interesting opportunity to take a cultural position and said, 'Let's have Payless gently make fun of all of that and go back to this pragmatist position in culture.' That seems to have tapped a nerve."
He said the stunt indicates how powerful branding is in today's society. "The right cultural codes can completely transform the perceived value of just about anything," he said.
“ships me 15 bottles of wine a month”
Good gosh, I hope you have some help drinking all that my friend. I see why you picked your screen name. lol
Beat ya by two posts.
It's BRILLIANT advertising. They just convinced a bunch of luxury shoe shoppers that they can get great deals at Payless for quality products.
Also, if you read the article, you would see that everybody "scammed" got their money back AND got to keep the shoes.
Everybody was a winner here. Except the "luxury" shoe stores on Park Avenue that might now see less foot traffic (pardon the pun).
Just a thought, were there any men's shoes sold to men by this "luxury" shoe store?
Snicker ...
Come on over, there’s plenty for everybody!
That’s what came to mind right away, along with the so-called fine art, stocks sure to soar, thousand dollar perfume, and on and on.
I’ve been in Payless stores. They’ve got a few good brands, and a lot more inexpensive cr@p. My bet is Palessi wasn’t trying to pass off some of the inexpensive cr@p as designer.
Fake fakes?..................
Oh well. They can call it what ever they like.
Happened to be in a payless last weekend with the wife and saw a pair of hightop converse on display, cost...$55. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t check but I’m sure they were made in some pacific rim country. When I was a kid my parents used to buy ‘em for me for $8....’course that’s been a while. lol
Were the Kardashians customers?.....................
I go with the 3 dollar wine........................
But if they did pass the inexpensive cr@p off as designer, these “influensters” are total morons....
Appreciate the offer but Connecticut would be a bit of a commute and going home would be especially interesting after all that wine. lol
Ninety-nine percent of all shoes bought in the USA are made in Chine, Vietnam, or some other factory sweatshop. Those $200 Italian loafers? Made in Bangladesh or someplace similar.
But whatever. I am still blown away at how millions of American have essentially made everyone named Kardashian a billionaire. Absolutely incredible.
One of the most enduring lessons that life has taught me is this:
You will never go broke underestimating how shallow people can be.
Check out the picture accompanying the article. Do you see any actual men in it?
I had several pair of All-Star high top converse as a kid/teen. I wore the crap out of them. To the point my Mom would have to throw them away in secret, because falling apart and stinky I’d still wear them.
Obviously, these are the same fashion leaders who helped convince women to pay over $100.00 for pants that are ripped up to look like they were found in a dumpster.
Coming soon: cosmetic arm adornments that look like needle marks so everyone can seem to be a junkie.
Just a variation on the Folgers coffee commercial, “we secretly replaced the coffee these fine diners normally drink with Folgers Crystals...let’s see how they react.” Kind of corny but it makes the point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.