Be the Occasion opens like a luxury fashion film, then pulls back to reveal something much closer to home.
When the new ads for Matalan begin, we all think we know what we’re getting. Moody lighting. A lingering close-up of fabric catching the light. A camera tight on the serene face of a supermodel. The visual language is clear: this is high-end fashion advertising, and probably well out of our price range.
Then the camera pulls back, and everything changes. This isn’t a luxury catwalk or fashion shoot at all: just an ordinary woman in an ordinary home, getting ready for Christmas. One who just happens to look fabulous because, well, she’s dressed in clothes from Matalan.
It’s a simple trick, but it works. Because, crucially, the joke is not on us (ridiculing your audience is never a good look) but on the OTT conventions of fashion advertising themselves.
Best of all, the point is clear, and doesn’t have to be spelt out in words. Namely: you don’t need a ridiculous budget to feel glamorous at Christmas. Just a reasonable amount of money, spent well at a retailer that offers good value and understands what women really want.
Glamour without pretension
Titled Be the Occasion, the campaign builds on Matalan’s Believe It’s Matalan brand platform, which is evidently designed to challenge common perceptions of the retailer as downmarket or cheap. Across a series of films and stills directed by Anastasja Black, the campaign pairs statement occasionwear with everyday wardrobe staples.
“We wanted a campaign that brings our latest collection to life, showing how festive dressing can feel both stylish and effortless,” says Aisha Jakhura, head of brand, campaigns and PR at Matalan.
“Working with Ozo, we’ve been able to bring a real sense of fun and personality to the campaign, while showing off the fantastic product we have to offer.”
Ozo’s approach
This is Ozo’s fourth campaign for Matalan, a creative company working across London and Paris, following earlier work for its Denim, Spring and Summer collections. Ozo handled the strategy, film and stills in-house and went from brief to finished campaign in just one month.
Throughout these campaigns, Ozo has employed what it calls its Circular Model. This harks back to the 1960s and 1970s, when it argues that much of the best advertising came from creative directors and film directors developing ideas side by side.
The production team works out how to make it as the idea develops. And artists, musicians, and creators come in to push the work further. For brands, Ozo says, the advantage is seeing what’s feasible and what it’ll cost much earlier, so there are fewer budget-led rewrites, and they can get into production faster.
As Emmanuelle Le Chat, co-founder of Ozo, puts it: “The best ideas get better when the people who create them and the people who make them are in the same conversation.
“We brought that mindset to our partnership with Matalan, closing the gap between idea and execution, saving time, making budgets work harder and raising the quality of the work.”
