Britney does it again

Candie’s Girl

Britney Spears has signed up to be the face of Kohl’s Candie’s clothing range for a second consecutive year. New ad campaigns are currently being shot, with the first among them to roll out in the Spring. “I had a great experience working with Candie’s last year and I am thrilled to be asked to sign on again for a second year,” said Spears.

Britney Spears became the face of Kohl’s Department Stores exclusive Candie’s female youth clothing brand in the spring of 2009, a tie-in set around her Circus Tour.  She followed in the footsteps of a number of other artists who have aligned with the overtly pink fashion label, such as Hayden Panettiere, and Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas.

The campaign launched with the introduction of 4M exclusive, limited edition, pull-out posters in US Weekly Magazine featuring Britney in full Candie’s apparel. “Britney is not your average girl, so we didn’t want to do an average media buy. We wanted to create an event with the debut of the campaign,” said Dari Marder, chief marketing officer, Iconix Brand Group.

For its fall campaign Candie’s outfitted Spears for her new music video, “Radar” and used footage from the music video for an accompanying television commercial. The music video features Candie’s apparel, footwear, jewelry and accessories. “The new Candie’s advertising campaign featuring Britney Spears is authentic, relevant and designed to resonate with our junior shopper,” said Julie Gardner, Kohl’s EVP and chief marketing officer.

So what?: Candies is Kohl’s junior brand range, and melding the campaign directly with a music video is a clever way to engage with an audience that is looking for vibrant fashion conscious role models. “Candie’s fits into my life in such a huge way. My sister loves Candie’s, my Mom loves Candie’s,” said Spears. This echoes her new everywoman positioning. As opposed to previous endorsees Britney is now an aspirational figure to tweens, teens and young American moms. This range pitched a collection geared towards all three demographics, the wannabe tween, the fashion savvy teen and the value-hunting mom.  Candie’s has drafted in numerous musicians over the years, including Kelly Clarkson, Ashlee Simpson, Hillary Duff and Fergie but Britney is the ultimate cherry on their endorsement cake. The exclusive partnership with US Weekly leveraged a level of momentum similar to a catwalk premiere, and the ‘fashion shoot as music video’ for the fall campaign built on this feeling of a breaking exclusive.

“In a market where some celebrity endorsements have been hit hard in 2009 – golfing club hard – it suddenly pays to stay with your safe bet from the previous year, as opposed to latching on to an unproven entity. Surprisingly Britney, who had a very public meltdown in 2007, has emerged as a bankable asset for Candie’s. With her seventh studio album looming in the Fall, Britney should be on track to keep Kohl’s in the Pink for another year”
Giles Fitzgerald, Editor, FRUKT Music Intelligence