Urban Ambitions for ASOS

It’s official. The days of flicking through glossy Gratton catalogues have been and gone thanks to the rise of the internet and the modern online home shopping experience. But now London agency BBH, together with production from Stink Digital, has taken the concept one step further with an innovative new campaign to promote the ASOS AW 2011 menswear collection.

Launching with a Paris-based film, shot by Pulse Films director Ben Newman, (above) and an interactive video (by Stink Digital's Sebastian Strasser) set in London, Urban Tour features street artists and performers dressed in garments from the line going about their talents and showcasing the clothing at various different angles for the viewer.

The shoppable aspect kicks into play when users spot something that takes their fancy. They can pause the film at any point to get a closer, and insightful, look at the product.

“With London being the headquarters of ASOS, it made perfect sense for the hero interactive film to be based there,” says BBH creative director, Dominic Goldman. “Paris and soon-to-come Tokyo were other key cities that featured interesting urban culture.”

The campaign spans seven world cities including London, Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, offering cultural insight and trend ideas for each. Once the film is paused, users are presented with more information on the performers and can then purchase their outfits.

“We scoured the globe for all forms of interesting and unusual street culture and these performances represented the vibe from each respective city,” adds Goldman.

The Paris film features skaters ripping through the city whereas the London interactive piece introduces a group of top urban street dancers. “When it came to the dancers, we viewed dozens of the best in the world and narrowed it down to the top ten. We were fortunate enough to get top talent from a variety of dance styles,” says the creative director.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Goldman highlights that the job was extremely technically challenging, and the team at Stink Digital had its work cut out before it was developed further at MPC.

“Everything about the job was ambitious,” says Marcel Kornblum, creative technologist at Stink Digital. “In just seven weeks we did everything from start to finish. We did a two-day shoot in London with five of the best young dancers in the world, a handheld camera, some special effects props, a crane and a helicopter.”

The film had to allow for users to click on any dancer at any time and seamlessly take them into the dancer’s ‘breakout’ sequence. Goldman explains that it was done by “freezing the other dancers on poles and rods”, which doesn’t sound too comfortable.

Urban Tour is ASOS’s first ever menswear-specific brand campaign and Goldman praises the brand’s “vision, ambition and guts”.

Check out how some of the magic was created for the London interactive film in this reveal clip.