How Freedom is connecting with fashion-conscious young influencers

Freedom is forging new ground in an exciting time for the business and its customers.

In a complete turnaround, the last 12 months has seen the creation of an in-house design team, the phase in of a first-class digital platform, a change in 70% of the product range and an entire rebrand at every touch point.

So why not add influencer marketing to that list?

Freedom wanted to reach a new segment – the young and fashionable – in a genuine and relevant way.

Believing homewares are intrinsically linked with fashion, Freedom shifted its focus to the style set in a decisive move to harness the influence of those who appreciate the art of fashion with interior design.

Using a mix of agencies, commissioning platforms and social insights, Freedom set about to find the right talent for an influencer gifting program. But what to gift? It had to be something that signified Freedom’s new direction, it must have wide appeal but also a unique personality with enough of a point of difference to say, “We’ve changed, come take a look”.

The Cosh lamp fit the criteria and was unanimously chosen for the gifting program, resulting in the birth of an iconic piece.

The mushroom-shaped lamp was shared by 15 influencers with a combined following of 474,000, who importantly all had a brilliant eye for photography and styling and remains a hugely sought-after piece in the range.

Two seasons later and the lamp is now available in new colourways and continues to elicit great admiration.

“The initial Cosh lamp gifting program set the scene for the arrival of the new look Freedom,” says Rebecca O’Hearn, Social and PR Producer.

“The team has been working hard on breathing new life into every aspect of the product, photography and stores; and our social media is an important part of how we communicated that change.

“It flicked a switch in the minds of the younger demographic who may not have previously considered us.

“It was a humble (and adorable) lamp which set the wheels in motion to Freedom becoming a lighthouse brand.”  

Moving on from the initial gifting program, the marketing team began to finetune their network and focus on targeted collaborations.

Freedom Cosh lamp gifting program, Instagram @lawstore

Those who had an accompanying blog or high engagement were of high interest however it was those with an already established connection to the brand that were natural ambassadors.

Investing more in an authentic lover of the range, rather than someone with the most followers, is a win for all three parties.

Firstly, the influencer makes an honest recommendation maintaining trust and authenticity with their followers.

Secondly, ­the followers are given genuine useful advice.

And finally, the client is rewarded with building authentic awareness and affinity for their brand.

Freedom will remain in a state of flux with their influencer activities due to the ever-evolving digital landscape, however this recent foray has been a resounding success.