Klarna's House of Y2K pop-up won over Gen Z, here's how Amplify did it
Amplify + Klarna created the House of Y2K to showcase the evolution of shopping through the power of Nowstalgia. It won the Consumer Services category at The Drum Awards for Experience. Here's the award-winning case study.
Amplify + Klarna create the House of Y2K to showcase the evolution of shopping through the power of Nowstalgia.
Since Klarna's inception, the brand has been on a mission to shift the retail environment from burdensome and fragmented to simplified and smooth. The House of Y2K, featuring Paris Hilton as the brand ambassador, was an experience that showcased Klarna’s full-service offerings to their audience of millennials and Gen Z shoppers using the timeless return of the Y2K fashion trend as a hook.
Our core objectives were:
Global Press Coverage - 200 pieces of coverage
Social Engagement - 100 million impressions
Traffic to the Klarna app - 20% increase
Footfall - 400
Our strategy was grounded in breaking the traditional marketing format and understanding current cultural trends that would resonate deeply. The Y2K fashion trend, which had gained significant traction among Gen Z while invoking nostalgia among millennials, led to the central theme of 'Nowstalgia,' a concept highlighting the evolution of trends and shopping experiences.
Introducing… The House of Y2K, curated by Paris Hilton
A showcase of the evolution of the Y2K trend from nostalgia for our millennials to ‘Nowstalgia’ for our Gen Zs. And the evolution of shopping itself, from chaotic e-commerce to a ‘Smoooth’ shopping experience, thanks to Klarna and its unique features.
The 'House of Y2K' became a dynamic showcase of this evolution. Through three core Y2K storylines—technology, fashion, and beauty—we demonstrated the transition of the once outdated e-commerce experience to a 'Smoooth' shopping experience. The campaign leveraged both digital and physical elements to create shareable moments and generate global impact.
The campaign kicked off with a VIP Y2K party hosted by Paris, which included a star-studded list of attendees, including Kris Jenner, Ashley Park, and Kathy Hilton. The VIP event allowed us to generate social and talent-based content that was successful in driving a huge amount of social buzz and press from media titles, including Hello Magazine, InStyle, Daily Mail, EXTRA, Cosmopolitan, Grazia Daily, Forbes, and more.
This helped drive interest for the consumer event the following day, which was successful in attracting the LA shopping audience to explore and learn about Klarna’s ‘smoooth’ shopping experience.
Our ingredients to success were:
People and culture research: Understanding our audience.
Breaking the format: By creating an experience with unique access to the brand.
Building a solid content engine: By incorporating interactive and immersive elements to captivate the audience and produce shareable moments.
The results exceeded objectives:
Klarna witnessed a 63% surge in app downloads post 'House of Y2K,' demonstrating the campaign's effectiveness in re-educating consumers about Klarna's offerings.
The event attracted a total of 450 VIPs and consumers.
A remarkable 1.7 billion impressions were achieved through social media shares and content generation.
The campaign generated 344 pieces of global coverage (exceeding the target by 72%).