Hugo Boss Turns to Roblox to Capture Gen Z

Meghan Hall
·3 min read

Hugo Boss‘ brand Hugo put a new planet into Roblox’s orbit last week, betting on the metaverse to prove its marketing jean-ius.

The German fashion company launched the first pieces in its new Hugo Blue line on March 7. The collection features denim essentials and streetwear highlights like T-shirts, hoodies, puffer coats and more. As part of the launch announcement, Hugo Boss’s younger brand Hugo also took its marketing to the Roblox, sharing that it had introduced an experience called Planet Hugo on the platform.

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The company is far from the first fashion brand to appeal to gamers. Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and dozens of other labels have already gotten in on the frenzy.

But in a ploy to reach a younger consumer with Hugo Blue, the Replay collaborator has followed suit.

Nadia Kokni, the company’s senior vice president of global marketing and brand communications, said the interplay between gaming and fashion continues to interest the brand.

“Targeting its Gen Z audience, Hugo harnessed the launch event as the perfect occasion to activate gaming and metaverse spaces as key cultural focus territories. With Planet Hugo, the brand is tapping into gamification, the facilitation of social moments, self-expression and self-exploration: all key aspects of Hugo’s DNA, and values loved by the Roblox community, which has a growing interest in curation and style,” Kokni said in a statement.

Despite many companies shifting their technology budgets and conversations toward artificial intelligence, the metaverse still may be a place that brands continue to catch consumers’ eyes. According to Roblox’s Q4 2023 results, it has over 70 million daily active users. That figure increased year over year by 22 percent, the company noted.

The Planet Hugo experience features a number of interactive pieces, including a game called Hugo Fashion Match, where users can face off against one another to style Roblox avatars in the Hugo Blue collection.

Roblox enthusiasts can also complete various tasks and challenges inside Planet Hugo to earn rewards, or use Robux, the standard currency used to purchase digital items on Roblox, to buy items from Hugo Blue for their avatar. Options include a long denim skirt, Hugo-branded shorts, a denim crop top and other digital versions of pieces at the forefront of the collection.

But the experience goes one step further in encouraging consumers to engage with the brand. As users roam Planet Hugo, they can collect “materials,” like buttons, flowers, patches and threads that are redeemable for prize tickets. Users can also rack up prize tickets by completing challenges, like attending the launch party for Planet Hugo, winning mini games in the experience and more.

Once users collect enough prize tickets, they can use them to purchase exclusive Hugo prizes to dress their avatar, like denim wings, flower headphones or a denim handbag.

To date, the experience does not include a way to purchase a physical version of the Hugo Blue collection through the Planet Hugo experience.

But according to Roblox’s 2023 Digital Expression, Fashion & Beauty trends report, if a user dresses their avatar in digital fashion items, they are more likely to consider purchasing from that brand in real life. And 56 percent of Gen Zers contended that the way their avatar looks matters more than their style in the physical world.

Winnie Burke, global group director of fashion and retail partnerships at Roblox, said the platform serves as a way to connect with younger generations.

“On Roblox, brands are able to engage some of their most coveted consumer audiences such as Gen Z, which makes up nearly half of our community, often spending several hours on the platform daily,” Burke told Sourcing Journal in a statement. “More and more brands, like Hugo, are creating their own persistent spaces for ongoing community engagement.”