Marimo, a Japanese couture bridalwear company, entered the U.S. market by launching Bara, a label with two collections: a standard-size line and a collection designed for plus-size women. Marimo’s point-of-difference in the crowded bridal market was that it provided salon owners sample gowns in sizes 14 through 28, which gave larger women the chance to enjoy the fairytale moment of trying on different gowns in front of a mirror while choosing the perfect one with the help of their loved ones.
Our Solution:
Marimo secured Fineberg Publicity to generate attendance from influential bridal media to their market week fashion show in New York and mount a comprehensive press campaign to promote a series of trunk shows to be staged at upscale salons nationwide.
Although Bara had no brand awareness in the U.S. market, our media outreach efforts obtained coverage for their fashion show in publications such as The Knot, Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings and Inside Weddings. The plus-size element to the Bara brand was perfect for TV segments. Using Marimo’s president as a spokesperson, we secured fashion segments for the line on morning news shows in Hartford, CT, Chicago, Colorado, Little Rock and Detroit.
Our work on the Bara launch had a strong social media and digital marketing component. We worked with bloggers to secure mentions of the Bara trunk shows in fashion sites, created an e-newsletter to share Bara’s media successes with retailers and collaborated with the influential wedding site The Knot to execute e-blast campaigns promoting Bara’s trunk shows.
We also set up Facebook and MySpace pages as well as a YouTube channel featuring a series of focus groups with plus-size women who shared stories of how challenging it was to find their wedding gowns due to the lack of large samples in stores.
