The Sewing Party
I led the team that helped SVP Worldwide, the world’s largest consumer sewing machine company – source of the SINGER, HUSQVARNA VIKING and PFAFF sewing machine brands – attract a younger demographic by successfully promoting The Sewing Party, the world’s first online all-day DIY event hosted on November 8, 2014.
To launch The Sewing Party, I developed and executed a comprehensive traditional and social media campaign. Sponsored by SVP brands, Burda Style, Etsy, and Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, The Sewing Party gave audiences the chance to engage in a day’s worth of online sewing and crafting classes for only $40. My objectives for The Sewing Party included: reach and drive interest and attendance among next generation sewers who are 40 years old and younger by securing coverage in: 20 popular sewing/craft/DIY blogs, five publications reaching a younger demographic, four sewing trades, two non-sewing-related publications and one national publication.
Finn Patners succeeded beyond SVP’s expectations in achieving the year’s overarching goal for driving down the company’s 50+ demographic over time by encouraging younger DIY audiences to integrate sewing into their skill set – particularly by helping to launch The Sewing Party.
On average, coverage secured on behalf of The Sewing Party reached consumers who were an average age of 30.19. DVL Seigenthaler exceeded each objective (listed above) for The Sewing Party by:
securing 124 articles and blogs and 225 social posts exclusively for The Sewing Party. Major media hits included multiple posts by HGTV’s “Made and Remade” bloggers, and posts by Country Living and DIY Magazine, the “bible” of young DIYers;
approaching and working with HGTV’s “Made and Remade” blog – inviting two of the network’s bloggers to host live chats during The Sewing Party. 14-year-old fashion prodigy Cecilia Cassini also hosted a live chat during the event; and
cultivating relationships with more than 20 bloggers (Friends of The Sewing Party), giving them exclusive access to The Sewing Party, free tickets for their followers, t-shirts, and links to their blogs from The Sewing Party’s website.
Overall, The Sewing Party was a huge success.
On Nov. 8, nearly 2,000 crafters virtually participated in a stimulating day of classes and community chats sponsored by SVP brands, Burda Style, Etsy, and Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. The Sewing Party achieved its goal of reaching an audience primarily of DIYers new to sewing, as evidenced by the content of “how-to” documents downloaded.
The Sewing Party achieved deep and meaningful engagement:
on average, people stayed on the site for 191 minutes;
the 30+ classes were viewed more than 15,000 times; and
9,671 how-to documents were downloaded.
2014 was a breakthrough year for SVP. The launch of The Sewing Party allowed its brands to become top-of-mind in media arenas, primarily digital, and reach an audience where it had never before gotten traction. By dramatically lowering the demographics of our target publications – and doing so in creative ways, such as sending t-shirt pitches – DVL Seigenthaler broke through the “sewing is for grandma” barrier and simultaneously laid the groundwork for SVP brands to continue to reach out to and attract younger crafters and non-traditional sewers to its innovative and accessible products.