Digital-native sunglasses brand Quay ventures into TV advertising

Heather McIlvaine

14th Nov 2019

Australian sunglasses brand Quay is launching a new marketing campaign just in time for summer. But unlike its previous campaigns, this one includes a TVC that is airing on selected Foxtel channels, a first for the 15-year-old company that until now has focused largely on social media.

“We’re always looking at ways to do above-the-line marketing in an affordable and measurable way,” said Michele Fitzgerald, Quay’s senior director of sales, marketing and operations, APAC.

The campaign was created with Advertising Advantage, which has a track record of working with online fast fashion retailers, including BooHoo, Pretty Little Thing and Nasty Gal. According to Fitzgerald, Advertising Advantage allowed Quay to take a targeted approach to the TVC.

“Growing up in the digital channel, results and metrics, being able to measure what we do is really important,” she told Internet Retailing.

The launch comes in the midst of what Fitzgerald calls a “large growth phase” for the company, which has offices in San Francisco, Paris, London and Melbourne, where it was founded in 2004.

Quay sold a majority stake to Elevate Brandpartners, a US-based company backed by the growth equity firm Summit Partners, three years ago. Since then, it has launched several high-profile collaborations with celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, Jennifer Lopez and most recently Chrissy Teigen.

“It’s been a very successful launch for us in Australia,” said Fitzgerald about the collaboration with Teigen. “I think our key customer already is engaged with her and aware of who she is on Instagram. Some of the sunglasses in her collection have been among our best-sellers for the year.”

Quay now is looking to reach new customers, who perhaps are not quite as active on social media, through its TVC.

“The great thing about our brand is we can appeal to a large audience,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got a great price point starting at $60, and a new category in blue light-blocking glasses, which is a strong growth category for us and opens up our [offer] to everybody.”