VIRTUE creates creative campaign ‘Date Dash’ to drive brand preference amongst Gen Z

July 8th 2019, - Today, VIRTUE announces their new partnership with TOPSHOP TOPMAN to increase brand preference and relevance amongst young people in the UK. Building relevance in a world where it’s never been easier to avoid marketing messages, TOPSHOP TOPMAN has tasked VICE’s creative agency to create experiences to be valued and salient in today’s youth culture whilst driving traffic to stores and online. The result is ‘Date Dash’, an online dating show that re-writes the rules of love launching today on Topshop.com.

Britain's young people have grown up connected to their peers and believe in the power of ‘us’. This affects how they hustle, party, escape reality, work and protest, and what they wear while doing it. TOPSHOP TOPMAN are brands that have always served young people and believed in their power. They are therefore determined to stand with the ‘we generation’ and help redefine the world together.

To make this come to life, VIRTUE is responsible for delivering a disruptive content format that stands out amidst the homogeneity of seasonal campaigns. The result is Date Dash, a fast-paced competitive show that brings young people together to test their style instincts. Contestants are dropped into a TOPSHOP TOPMAN store in either Glasgow, Manchester or London Oxford Street in their underwear, and have to race against the clock to assemble an outfit to impress an eligible date. As the dashers experience the adrenaline rush of selecting the perfect outfit, viewers will discover that while clothes have the power to set sparks flying, sometimes attraction runs deeper. The series consists of six 3.30’ episodes on Topshop.com, with additional snackable assets on the TOPSHOP TOPMAN social channels.

Date Dash is the first of VIRTUE and TOPSHOP TOPMAN activations and spaces for people, who wouldn’t necessarily find each other, to come together and be encouraged to collectively explore at the same time.

The TOPSHOP TOPMAN purpose is to deliver empowering fashion that fuels our customers’ creative spirit to look and feel their best self. We don’t define our customer; they define themselves. At TOPSHOP TOPMAN, we believe that we need to focus our efforts on dynamic assets to entertain, inform, and emotionally connect with a Gen Z audience. Partnering with VIRTUE will be a new phase of what we hope to be a succession of more narrative content that inspires in an inclusive and fun way.

Gemma Knox, Managing Director VIRTUE Northern , adds: “We believe that in order to reach a Gen Z audience, brands need to be entertaining and contributing rather than demanding. These are all values that TOPSHOP TOPMAN believe in, which is one of the many reasons we are excited to partner with them. Being able to capitalise on VICE’s insights, ​ ​ channels, talent, production facilities and ability to tell stories, we are confident that we can help embed them in the world of a young audience by truly adding value to it.”

We are VIRTUE, the creative agency born from VICE. Since 2006, we’ve used our entertainment DNA to help brands capture the attention of their audiences with work that speaks to our most primal instincts of pleasure, attraction and delight. We believe in commanding, not demanding; entertaining, not interrupting; contributing, not leaching. Because brands should add to the world they want to be a part of — not distract from it.

With presence in 26 countries, we craft campaigns, platforms, and IP for some of the most important brands on the planet. Using proprietary tools, access, and intelligence, we find new ways for brands to matter to the world through an entertainment-centric approach that plunges its hooks into audiences’ subconscious and refuses to let go.

Virtue is behind the award winning Chrome’s ‘Don’t Be A Browser’, Park MGM’s Las Vegas Love Stories, Weedmaps’ Museum of Weed, Dove’s Dear Future Dads, and Q the Genderless Voice.

About Topshop Topshop is a dynamic retailer that connects people with the new and next of fashion, style and culture. Breadth and diversity is demonstrated across covetable ranges including Topshop Boutique, a contemporary and luxurious wardrobe; over 300 new stylish must-have mainline and accessories launching weekly; as well as an expansive, versatile denim offering which sees one pair of jeans sold every 10 seconds globally.

Recognised as the original design collaborator and champion of emerging talent, Topshop’s campaign alumni include , , , as well as Gigi and . Topshop’s many exclusive designer capsules have gained global acclaim, in particular the collaboration with iconic , highly-regarded British designers JW Anderson, Christopher Kane and Jonathan Saunders amongst others and most recently with award-winning designer Michael Halpern. Continually innovating, exclusive technology partnerships with Oculus Rift and social platforms – such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – ensure the retailer is celebrated for being a digital leader and for being at the forefront of the new and the next.

Topshop offers a premium, complimentary Personal Shopping and Styling service in a selection of the brand’s 604 stores, digital partners and franchises located in over 35 countries. The brand’s global iconic flagship store on London’s Oxford Street has around 100,000 square feet of space and receives over 400,000 weekly visitors. Topshop.com attracts an average of over 4.5 million weekly visits across mobile, tablet and desktop and with shipping to more than 100 countries and dedicated transactional platforms in nine countries – Tophsop.com provides consumers, fans and followers with an unparalleled and engaging shopping experience.

About Topman Putting menswear on the fashion map, British brand Topman is a ground-breaking style authority. From famous style staples to sharp tailoring, Topman has earned its sartorial stripes with an unswerving, energetic approach to producing truly exciting, aspirational men’s fashion. Topman has launched exclusive capsule collections in collaboration with Charlie Casely-Hayford, James Long, Astrid Andersen, Agi & Sam, Nasir Mazhar and Sibling to name a few, and globally-recognised brand ambassadors include Nick Jonas, Douglas Booth and James Bay.

Driving trends forward while shifting the way men approach shopping, Topman also offers a complimentary personal shopping service in select stores globally. Topman’s global footprint spans over 160 stores in the UK, and a total of 420 doors worldwide including franchises that operate in 34 countries. Topman.com launches over 250 new products every week, and provides shipping to over 100 countries.