Online retailers Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter are working together on an advertising campaign for the first time.

Mr Porter launched in 2011 as a menswear-focused offshoot of the women’s wear retailer, but maintains its own brand identity. The collaboration will give both retailers visibility through the busy holiday shopping season.

“Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter have very unique identities but we both share the same values of delivering exceptional service and style to our customers globally,” said Heather Kaminetsky, vice president of global marketing at Net-A-Porter. “The Holiday season can be particularly stressful when shopping for others and the demand for service is at its peak.

“Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter strive to make the holiday shopping experience as enjoyable and relaxed as possible, allowing customers more time to spend with family and loved ones,” she said. “With the same high standard of service, it seemed only natural to join together to create a unified message during the holidays.”

Power of two
The campaign will include placements on Instagram, YouTube and Apple and two additional firsts occurring in the form of television advertisements and a short film that will grace the screens of hand-picked cinemas.

Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter’s minute-long video, entitled “All For You” and directed by Christopher Barrett and Luke Taylor of Us, begins with red curtains opening into a populated space full of apparel on gliding rails. It then takes the consumer through a classroom and a photo shoot before returning to the initial place, where a series of screens in the middle refresh to show new orders.

The people, now revealed to be employees, begin walking along to find other clothes, floating up to the ceilings and turning colorful butterflies into pocket squares. The final images show several employees completing the wrapping progress, ending with a shot of bags from both Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter.

Jaunty music and the magical events in the short film effectively suggest that the retailers will take care of consumers, leaving them with nothing to worry about and presenting a carefully hand-wrapped gift at the end.

The focus on the wrapping part of the process recalls Christmas and holiday gifting, providing a subtle push to consumers while emphasizing both retailer’s service and transparency.

There is also a 30-second version, which reorders and omits a number of shots to provide a more fast-paced message that is better suited for television. Both versions have been posted to YouTube

“This year’s first-ever joint campaign provided an intimate glimpse inside the world of online luxury retail through a magical lens,” said Ms. Kaminetsky. “The film perfectly blends each brand’s principles, providing an enchanting perspective that is amplified through all channels, including television.”

The retailers will be making use of Sky’s Adsmart platform, which targets ads at viewers based on a number of demographic factors, allowing different consumers to see different efforts on the same program.

Adsmart’s platform and picking cinemas and films by hand ensures that the holiday campaign will be most visible to the appropriate consumers, while global print and digital ads can raise awareness across all demographics.

“We created our joint campaign to share our invaluable level of service during the holidays not only to our already established customers who shop both Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter and know our product well, but also to the shopper who has not experienced either of our brands yet,” Ms. Kaminetsky said.

Creative minds
Many recent efforts from Net-A-Porter have been focused on pleasing mobile shoppers.

For example, the retailer feted the opening of its social shopping application to the public with a fitting personality-driven campaign.

The Net Set officially launched in April but was invitation-only until September. While this public launch makes the app less exclusive, it ensures a continuing and growing conversation within the space as more users join (see story).

Net-A-Porter Group has also found creative ways to raise awareness of other major changes.

The merger between Net-A-Porter and Yoox was recently completed, with the combined entity listed Oct. 5 on the Italian Stock Exchange.

To celebrate its entrance into the Italian Stock Exchange, the trading building was wrapped ceremoniously as a large-scale Net-A-Porter package. The well-known ribbon was tied around the façade, and an accompanying arch was installed over the doorway, also heralding the newly formed retail group (see story).

“Since the launch in 2000, Net-A-Porter has established itself as the world’s premier online luxury fashion destination with unparalleled service,” Ms. Kaminetsky said. “From the moment a product is selected from our site it is tended to with the utmost attention and care as it is meticulously, individually hand-wrapped before embarking on its journey to the customer whether it is being hand-delivered in one of our signature vans or through the mail.

“All For You grants our customer a glimpse into all of the magic that happens behind the scenes to ensure every package arrives on your doorstop looking exquisite,” she said.

Final Take
Forrest Cardamenis, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York