Alodia and Ashley Model Funky Jeans

Marketing to geek culture requires more than just copying geek culture. Jag jeans got it wrong when they imitated a popular photo of Filipina cosplay queen and gamer girl Alodia Gosiengfiao, sticking a mainstream model into the picture instead.

It was a classic case of cargo cult marketing: copying the external trappings of a campaign (the photo composition) without knowing what actually makes that campaign work (the gamer babe).

Channeling Archetypes

Jag’s competitor Freego, on the other hand, got it right. To promote their Freshgear line of funky costume-like jeans, they hired Alodia and her younger sister Ashley for an original photoshoot.

The result is a series of images that successfully avoids Jag’s cargo-cult trap, by having these two authentic gamer girls creatively channel classic video game archetypes. Even the gamer girls’ contrasting personalities shine through in these images. Alodia looks perfectly poised with her pistol, while Ashley casually walks away from shooting somebody with her smoking gun.

Creativity and Authenticity

The first set of images is clearly inspired by first-person shooters. As Alodia and Ashley reveal in their behind-the-scenes video, upcoming images will incorporate fantasy elements. Congratulations to Alodia, Ashley, art director Carlo Lamano, photographer Xander Angeles, graphic designer James Hermogenes, and propmakers Mary Grace Roldan and Guy Singzon on putting together an exciting campaign.

Marketers, take note: this is the kind of creativity and authenticity you need to reach geeks.

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