Submitted by Smoking Gun

Dare 2b X NEXT Influencer Launch Event

Smoking Gun built a central London alpine launch event for Dare 2b's Next skiwear range, drawing 20+ Instagram influencers, TikTok stars and media in four weeks.

...included 20+ Instagram influencers, TikTok stars and media, including This Morning, Women's Health, Mumsnet and The Daily Mailinfluencer, TikTok and media attendees

Case in 60 seconds

Dare 2b needed to launch a new skiwear range through Next while establishing itself as both affordable and credible on quality and performance, and the event had to be built in four weeks.

The campaign appears to turn on the recognition that skiwear credibility is conferred socially rather than technically, so the event courted journalists who already ski and creators who already live outdoors because their endorsement reads as personal preference.

Rather than a kitsch ski lodge, the launch was staged as an exclusive apres club transplanted into central London, so the range was introduced through the aspirational setting its buyers associate with fashionable alpine resorts.

Smoking Gun secured Next's new showroom, worked with an interior designer to convert a central London basement, and commissioned alpine catering, boozy hot chocolate and take-home cocktails in alpine inspired bottles. Outreach to a curated list of top tier journalists and TikTok and Instagram influencers began three weeks ahead, with briefings issued before guests were guided through the collection against backdrops built for social sharing.

Smoking Gun reports 20+ Instagram influencers, TikTok stars and media in attendance including This Morning, Women's Health, Mumsnet and The Daily Mail, live social content reaching the millions, and glowing feedback from influencers, media and the client.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Top tier journalists who ski and audience-relevant influencers with a love of the outdoors and an engaged following, described by the page as people who would naturally seek out the ski collection.
Skiing carries an established visual code that has aged into kitsch, so the event rejected the tartan ski lodge reference and built for the contemporary apres club instead, which allowed an affordable range to be met on aspirational terms.
The page describes skiwear as a competitive market where Dare 2b had to be read as stylish and affordable while still winning on quality and performance, a pairing that price-led positioning tends to undercut.
Dare 2b entered as the range being introduced inside a retail partner's own new showroom, which placed the brand alongside Next's authority rather than asking it to establish credibility unaccompanied.
Based on the available evidence, the guest list was assembled around existing personal interest in skiing and the outdoors, which suggests the agency treated pre-existing affinity as the condition for the coverage rather than reach alone.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram
  • TikTok

Partners

  • Smoking Gun (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • Guests were guided through the new collection and encouraged by Insta-worthy backdrops to share the event on social, then left with personalised Dare 2b accessories and signature cocktails in alpine inspired glass bottles.

Creator role

  • Mariam Shem — creator
  • Rianna Rottie — creator

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
influencer, TikTok and media attendees...included 20+ Instagram influencers, TikTok stars and media, including This Morning, Women's Health, Mumsnet and The Daily Mailcreators_count

Why Smoking Gun's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Guest curation can carry more weight than guest volume, because a list built from journalists who already ski and creators with an outdoors interest produces coverage that reads as genuine affinity rather than paid attendance.

  2. 2

    A short lead time is survivable where the venue is a partner asset, since securing Next's own showroom removed the search and negotiation that would otherwise consume much of a four week schedule.

  3. 3

    Take-home items function as a second wave of the event, because personalised accessories and bottled cocktails extend the brand encounter past the evening and give creators a reason to post after leaving.

  4. 4

    Designing the room for photography converts guests into distribution, which suggests the physical build was treated as content infrastructure rather than hospitality alone.

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