Stylish and luxurious brand Calvin Klein used user generated content (USG) in their campaigns in 2014, “I ________ in #MyCalvins”, the advertisements and campaign consisted of musicians, models, athletes, and artists sharing how the brand plays a role in their lives whilst also sharing personal and intimate stories in a short advert that lasts from 18 seconds to 60 seconds.
From the likes of Young Thug, Frank Ocean, Solange, Kendrick Lamar, Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber and many more, are proud Calvin Klein celebrity endorsers who wear the brands staple jeans and comfortable underwear. As the year progresses so does the brand, Calvin Klein manages to remain timeless and consistent.
The importance of using a hashtag in this campaign is that it increases visibility and interactivity, Calvin Klein used the hashtag to welcome customers to post themselves wearing Calvin Klein items using the #MyCalvins as a caption. The hashtag also creates a sense of relatability between the brand’s celebrity endorsers and customers as both parties wear Calvin Klein to feel a sense of something, whether its creativity, fearlessness, or bravery.
Plus, the hashtag allows customers to interact with #MyCalvins on multiple social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. Which is what makes the brand so alluring and inviting, seeing celebrities warmly interact with the brand and proudly wear Calvin Klein, it subconsciously influences people to buy Calvin Klein. Using social media, especially using a hashtag generates possible new customers daily, and increases the brands interactivity also.
Consumers must use #MYCALVINS on social media for chance to be featured on Calvin Klein’s social media, with currently 874k posts tagged under #MYCALVINS on Instagram, it emphasises the brand relevancy and how the brand did a great job at maintaining a thriving hashtag that is still be used today.
This visual brand campaign’s objective was to create brand relatability, inclusivity, creativity and personal expression by encouraging their consumers to engage with the #MyCalvins hashtag by allowing them to fill in the blank ‘“I ________ in #MyCalvins” just like how the trendy celebrities did.
Additionally, in 2020 Calvin Klein started their pride campaign “#ProudInMyCalvins”, this portrays that the brand celebrates gender identity, self-expression and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as working closely with LGBTQ+ organisations globally to share the brands solidarity and to celebrate the pride collection.
Calvin Klein’s #MyCalvins visual campaign made the brand’s identity more relatable as it strayed away from the intimidating high-fashion campaigns, normal people would participate in the hashtag and see themselves represented. The campaign included diversity and inclusivity, in terms of race, gender and sexuality. It allowed customers to see themselves represented positively and in places where perhaps they weren’t represented beforehand.
This UGC allowed the brand to show their appreciation to their loyal and new customers as well as increasing brand revenue and sale opportunities. Calvin Klein used digital media to help increase their sales, improve brand relevancy and attract new customers, Fenton shares, “digital media, and the internet in particular, are transforming our means of gathering information and communicating with each other and contributing to both these practices through creative production.”
Calvin Klein’s, #MyCalvins brand campaign engendered innovation, collaboration, and participation. With the help of brand advertising on social media, it creates endless opportunities for customers to participate and interact as it allows them to be creative. Web 2.0 and digital media allows mass creativity, sharing, usability and consumers as producer as consumer engaging with #MyCalvins would have to get creative in order to have a winning chance in being chosen to feature on Calvin Klein’s social media and website, as the luxurious brand allows their consumers to be authentically themselves.