Case study

Project: Hang up the bikini at 39? Marie Helvin leads the way for Isme

We recruited former supermodel Marie Helvin, 59, to do her first bikini shoot in over a decade launch a new range of Shapewear swimwear. The new bikinis have been developed exclusively by mature online retailer Isme.com with lift and support technology with the changing body shape of the older woman in mind.

Supported with research that revealed British women thought 39 is the age women should hang up the two-piece, we also revealed how more than half of women aged 50+ refused to accept that age should define what they wear on the beach this summer. The results, messaging and reach to Isme’s target audience were astounding: a full page in the Daily Mail, two Mail Online features (with over 550 Facebook likes), a half-page picture story and DPS interview feature in the Daily Express, half pages in The Daily Telegraph,Daily Mirror and The Irish Independent with more to come. Follow-up coverage saw the the Marie bikini pics discussed approvingly Sun and Daily Mail columnists. Finally, the Daily Mail’s controversial columnist Liz Jones, 53, decided to put the bikini through it’s paces and gave it a rave write-up in another double-paged spread.

The articles generated loads of online articles in the likes of Marie Claire, blog and Twitter chat from fashion and style followers. Over a dozen broadcast interview with Marie in the days following the publication of her modelling the Shapewear bikinis. And, as he has told everyone else here, we are pleased to report that our Robbie is now ‘bezzies’ with Marie!