PR Stunt Success – Celebrating National Bikini Day and Body Confidence
The year was 1946 and the world was just recovering from the 2nd World War. Fashion was fighting back, relinquishing the drabness of the war years with stunning styles, fabrics and colours. It was a year that a game changer came along – the bikini. Designed by Louis Reard, the two-piece swimsuit has been with us ever since. And we’ve decided it’s worth celebrating.
National Bikini Day
National bikini day – just follow the hashtag #NationalBikiniDay on social media to keep up with all the fun – is a chance to celebrate this iconic outfit. It was a note of freedom for women everywhere to enjoy the summer sun by casting off layers of clothes.
But it became a symbol of something else. Only slim, young women could get away with wearing a bikini. It was not a piece of attire that an older lady was expected to enjoy.
Until now, that is. Along with National Bikini Day held every year on 5th July, brands are also getting in on the fun, using it as a means of raising brand awareness and pushing sales.
And it is a great chance to show you how experiential marketing really works.
The On The Beach experiential marketing campaign, Manchester July 2019
To coincide with National Bikini Day, on July 5th On The Beach, the online beach holiday retailer decided to launch their summer marketing campaign. And we were there to give them a helping hand.
The Brief – to provide 35 real women to enjoy the Manchester sunshine in a man-made city beach to draw attention to National Bikini day and On The Beach.
The Project – With 35 of our best female promotional staff ready and willing to enjoy the balmy summer temperatures in the city of Manchester, the project got On The Beach’s campaign off to a flying start.
Social media strategy – On The Beach’s team had created a strong social media marketing strategy that tied in with the hashtag #NationalBikiniDay but also utilised their own that drew a lot of attention online – #thisbikinican.
Alongside a steady stream of their own tweets and posts, On The Beach also manage to attract attention from female celebrities who also shared their photos enjoying the summer in their bikinis online. The message was clear – women are no longer willing to be pressured with the message about being ‘beach body ready’. As one tweet from On The Beach reminded up being ‘beach body ready’ means taking the body to the beach!
Experiential marketing and modern messages
On The Beach’s marketing team had been clever to piggy-back onto National Bikini Day to use this as their theme, along with a positive body image message that is also in the social media headline a lot these days.
Our promotional staff provided the faces and the ‘bikini bodies’ that made the ‘beach location’ a visual hit. It was shared widely across all social media platforms, including by our staff too.
Does experiential marketing work?
Yes, it does! This was a great start to On The Beach’s summer 2019 marketing campaign. Experiential marketing of this kind could yield results for your brand too.
