So far 2018 has seen some interesting things developing in Sloggi’s base camp. The new year has kicked off with a new campaign called ‘Unfasten yourself’ which is aimed to provide women with a comfortable fit whilst wearing their product. Sloggi has clearly heard women’s plea’s for a comfortable bra that doesn’t dig in, leaving red marks. I found out about the campaign whilst travelling up an escalator, exiting an Hungarian metro. The ‘Unfasten yourself’ Sloggi zero feel campaign produced by the (MullenLowe Group) was presented in a series of strong imagery and as I moved up the elevator the more I was intrigued. The imagery showed red marks that are left on a women’s back by bra’s and corsets to highlight the confinement of these ‘contraptions’ us women lock ourselves into everyday in order to support our assets.

In all honestly I related to the pictures and once I found out that they belong to Sloggi, promoting their new zero feel bra I wanted to know more. I have never brought a product from Sloggi and I have been struggling to find a comfortable bra since I’ve sadly become a victim of the uni ‘podge’.  I’ve been avoiding it like the plague but it’s finally caught up with me, so I have decided to investigate. Once I returned from my weekend away I got myself straight onto the internet to find out more. On international women’s day (8th March 2018) the new bra was released at a number of department stores such as John Lewis, House of Fraser and Debenhams. The Sloggi website has provided 5 reasons for you to ‘experience the unfeelable feeling’ of their newly produced bra, with ‘super smooth 360° stretch fabric’ and seamless finish.

1. Uncompressed – Extremely elastic 360° stretch material or every move you make (and every breath you take…).
2. Wireless Support – Surprisingly supportive due to high retention fabric and smart bonding constructing.
3. Seamless Invisibility – So comfortable! Feels like you’re wearing nothing at all and looks just like that under your underwear.
4. Perfect Fit – Adapts to your body, instead of adapting your body.
5. Material – The softness superfine microfibre = free hugs for everyone.

I wanted to put these claims to the test after seeing a few comments a number of facebook users have left below the facebook ad. Some women have complained  that the brand does not catered to the ‘bigger’ woman, only providing their product to woman with smaller assets. One user said, “32JJ here. Doubt I’d even get one boob in.” – Fiona Worthington. Another has said, “I genuinely went to buy one to find you only fit to 32DD. I’m a 32F and a chef so I struggle with discomfort from my bra. If you’re the new bra then why aren’t you offering a range of sizes?” – Bronte Steel. Even though I think the advertorials are strong and capture the message that the brand is portraying, it is evident they haven’t convinced everyone. Myself and a lot of my friends are not a size 0, we all have curves and are proud of them, however we all struggle to find bras to suit our needs. Sloggi has only catered their product to a size 32DD. A brand who is claiming that they have come up with the ‘ultimate’ bra that celebrates women have failed to include all women. All of the models used are all skinny and all white, there is no diversity within the campaign and this is a shame.

Sloggi also advertised the bra through the use of a video ad which was released via social media, television and their website with a whooping £1.2 million ALT spend. The video shows women from 5 different decades in a fun and innovative way showing all types of bras all with the same problem, restrictive and uncomfortable. I loved the ad because like the advertorials it was relatable but had a fun way of showing our struggles. Due to the strong advertisements I decided to try the produced out. See the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIrd4qB9EXQ. Retailing at £30 (reasonable price in my opinion) the bra comes in 6 colours and two styles; a bracelet and a shirt top with matching seamless knickers. I am a size 10/12 with a size 32D bust and when I tried those sizes on I could quite comfortably fit in the size 10 and size 12 Sloggi zero feel, ‘Brazilian briefs’ but would go for the size 12 due to the amount of fabric needed to cover my behind. Bra wise I haven’t actually been measured in a while so I was going on a guess and found that the 32D was the best fit; however the bra did roll up a bit when I sat down and I would have gone for the 32DD size but the cup was too big. I tried a number of different sizes on to get the best fit. I have to say that all the sizes, whether big or small gave little or no support. Whilst I was wrestling into the different bras I took some pictures in order to show you what the fit looked like, see the pictures and my comments below.

My final opinion on this campaign is the fact that it does not cater for all of the shapes and sizes that women come in. Since the campaign was released on international women day I feel it has let a lot of these women down. Mel O’brien commented on the ad uploaded on the Sloggi facebook page highlighting her annoyance with this, “Why do you not cater to people larger than a D? What about the other sizes?” Sloggi then replied with a less than satisfactory and unhelpful apology, “Hi Mel, thank you for your feedback. For the ZERO Feel top we cover from A up to a DD cup and with the stretch material we have tried to design a top that fit many different shapes and sizes, but I am aware that ZERO Feel will not fit everyone. Each season we try and expand our range with new products and styles for more shapes, sizes and occasions with a focus on comfort and style. Regards, the sloggi-team.” Reading this has left me with the worry that they are not doing enough to provide comfort for all women. I personally would not buy their product, however I love their advertorials, the MullenLowe Group did an amazing job of promoting the brand. If you were as skinny as the models used in the ads then go for it, feel the benefit of ‘unfastening yourself’ but if you’re on the curvy side of life like me then I would give it a miss.

By Josephine Clackson

Credits for Campaign
Nicola Tacchi – Global Head of Brand & Marketing
Tom Jacobs – Global Head of Marketing Strategy
Olesya Di – Global Head of Marketing Communications
ACCOUNT TEAM
Managing Partner: Ed Lee
Account Director: Lee Allen, Laura Mahony, Suzanne Rundle
Account Executive: Roxanna Parry, Joseph West
STRATEGY
Strategy Director: Sandy Doran
Retail Strategist: Natalie Chester
Social Strategist: Kayley Almond
CREATIVE
CCO: Jose Miguel Sokoloff
ECD: Mark Elwood
Creative Director: Katrina Encanto & Edgar Galang, Emma Perkins
Creatives: Charlotte Robins, Nina Griffiths, Loren Cook, Bronwyn Sweeney
Design Directo: Ryan Self
Studio Manager: Dom Scriven
Head of Activation Design: Silvia Sella
Head of digital Design: Rachel Wells
Retoucher: Pete Stedman
Designer: Augusta Linqusist, Rob Carew, Jeff Workman, Bethia Connolly, Ben Gilpin,
Elizabeth Bolzon
PRODUCTION
Senior TV producer: Nicholas Kurs
Senior creative producer: Lisa Tuck, Marie Gilot
Producer: Rose Reynolds
Production company: Blur Films
Director: Martin Jalfen
International Executive Producer: Pablo Herraiz
Photographer – Aleksandra Kingo c/o Angela Woods
Photographer – Jesus Alonso c/o AProductions
Unfasten Yourself Handwriting – Alison Carmichael c/o Jelly London