Integrated agency Stratitude was appointed by African Fashion International (AFI) as their PR partner for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg 2016 (MBFWJ). AFI set a campaign target of R60 million in PR coverage for the August event, and Stratitude exceeded that target by achieving over R124 million.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWith every fashion week that we run, we aim to increase our media coverage by 10%. This was the target that we set for Stratitude and we\u2019re thrilled that they have exceeded this so considerably. It was a huge success and we anticipate exceptional results for our next event,\u201d<\/em> says Sizwe Nzimande, AFI group marketing manager.<\/strong><\/p>\n Stratitude was responsible for all PR activities including media accreditation, media hosting and management over the four-day event, daily coverage of shows, post MBFWJ interviews and liaising with AFI, designers and models. The campaign was implemented over a six-week period with pre, during and post campaign tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes this achievement so remarkable, is that we were appointed as the PR agency only seven weeks before fashion week,\u201d <\/em>says Sylvia Schutte, managing director at Stratitude.<\/strong> \u201cFurthermore, not only did we have to secure coverage for the actual event, but we also had to ensure that we profiled AFI, primary and secondary sponsors, as well as the designers, AFI FastrackTM<\/sup> and the pan-African Couture D\u2019Afrique show on the last day. A lot had to be done and we had to hit the ground running.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Schutte explains that while their strategy primarily concentrated on traditional media, they also had a focussed campaign targeting influencers such as bloggers, vloggers and street style photographers, which is in line with international fashion week PR campaigns. This approach was hugely successful for the agency, as is evident in the PR coverage they received locally and internationally across all media, and virally through digital coverage.<\/p>\n Of the R124 million in coverage secured, 70% of it was through traditional media, 25% international media and 5% from influencers. Some of the media highlights include an 8-week MBFWJ series on Top Billing; cover in Forbes Women, Grazia, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Style Africa and Destiny Magazine; and publicity in the USA, UK, Italy, Brazil, India, Germany, France, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda and Canada.<\/p>\n