YOU DON’T NEED A MAKE OVER YOU NEED A MAKE BETTER
When ELLE Editors teamed up with Fitness production & distribution pros Watch It Now Entertainment, to create their brand new fitness series; what they cooked up was perfect parts fitness, nutrition, beauty, and fashion.
Watch It Now Entertainment’s (WIN Ent.) approach was Multi-Platform Brand Integration. The ELLE Make Better DVD Collection, hosted by model Brooklyn Decker, starring ELLE’s creative director Joe Zee, ELLE’s beauty/fitness director, Emily Dougherty, and Reeboks Global Fitness Instructor Sara Haley joined the biggest, and most powerful players in the fitness, fashion, nutrition, and beauty industries.
Said Darren Capik, Owner/Director WIN Ent “ELLE is an ideal vehicle in launching an integrated lifestyle, fitness and fashion product, their creative team is on target with what’s relevant to a female consumer who wants the best of everything”.
The multimedia/multi-brand campaign that ensued comprised an ELLE Make Better January Themed Issue, featuring custom advertorials produced by WIN Ent., from lead sponsor Reebok, and the launch of ELLEMakeBetter.com, along with the launch of the ELLE Make Better Collection Three-DVD series.
Dianne Hayes, Reebok's head of global entertainment marketing, said "Make Better" represented an "aggressive advertising spend" on the brand's part in terms of investing the bulk of its apparel marketing dollars in the program during the time period. "We certainly changed our media mix to accommodate it. The Easy Tone story fits in well, and Brooklyn's a great face for us. Who wouldn't want [ELLE creative director] Joe Zee to style your products and have them worn by Brooklyn?" (Ad Age)
Brand expansion is intended to boost revenue, but there is an additional advantage in the exposure that comes from powerful associations like the one between ELLE, Reebok, & Watch it Now Entertainment. Brent Allen, ELLE VP, of Brand Development says, "The Make Better Collection, Along with Reebok’s Easy Tone Sneaker can already be considered a success at launch because ELLE had already offset its production costs by signing up Reebok as an integrated sponsor”.
To illustrate the concept of "Make Better," a more positive take on "makeover," the team at ELLE and WIN Ent. turned to Ms. Decker to be the face and body of their new initiative.
The objective of this multiplatform initiative was not to make women feel as if they needed to completely make themselves over, but “make small improvements in their already great lives” said Anne Welch, ELLE VP & Publisher.
"A lot of us get so consumed with having kids and a home to upkeep, we wanted a DVD that would be easy for women to just pop in but also fit into their stylish, chic superwomen lifestyles," Brooklyn Decker.
The appeal of Brooklyn Decker, the everywoman that does it all: model, actor, spokesperson, and devoted fitness enthusiast, is she's not just a beautiful model, but she is quite athletic, with a body-type that is achievable, and she is also of interest in pop culture where ELLE readers would be especially attracted to working out with her.
The DVDs feature Ms. Decker leading a workout that incorporates everything from yoga to cardio to a trapeze. The exercises vary in length so viewers can do more intensive workouts or quick five-minute activities if they're on-the-go.
The Make Better Collection has actually become a model for the future of cross- branding, cross-marketing, and multi-product development, with The New York Times, AD Age, and the Charlotte Observer, all reporting on the success of the campaign. Brooklyn Decker is garnering press in her own right, with interviews on E! MTV, and STS News.