The brand launch campaign needed to create relevance for Denizen across a wide range of global markets. We found that while the specific situations may change, this audience faces a world of division and judgement and yet chooses to see the world with optimism and seek out experiences that could impact the world for the better. In the words of one audience member, “There is so much negativity around us, it’s seen on the news and in the streets each and every day. I think that having a certain level of optimism yields confidence which yields action and motivation that can lead to the change necessary to better the conditions of the world.”

The first brand campaign for Denizen is as much a rallying cry as it is a call to action for this audience: CHANGE IT UP. We tapped into the audience culture and desire to make their world better by championing experimentation and change from both a lifestyle and fashion perspective.

Building off the core elements of the logo design, we tore apart the fashion industry tropes: the look on a model’s face, their poses and activities, straightforward narratives; to make the brand more open, inviting and optimistic. A central color palate drives brand consistency and signals different product lines, with a graphic typography that makes each asset feel more like a motivational meme than an advertisement.

Social and influencer activities made the campaign more personal and actionable, with challenges and inspiration for our audience to CHANGE IT UP in their own lives.

In a world of uncertainty that feels incredibly divided, the audience for Denizen is fiercely positive about today and tomorrow. Through in-person qualitative, crowdsourced diaries, and quantitative profiling, we dug beneath the millennial stereotype of wanting experiences more than things to identify what that desire was for. We found that the desire for experience was driven by a desire to have a positive impact on their lives and the lives of others. Rather than give in to fashion industry pressure to conform, or fear of social judgement online, this audience seeks new experiences as a way to express themselves and improve their world.

By defining Denizen as a beacon of optimism and self-expressive style we found a compelling way to connect what matters to this audience with Denizen’s product proposition of a wide range of modern styles at an affordable price.

The main idea behind the campaign is Change it Up. With that in mind, it didn’t make sense to tell the story in a typical narrative structure. Running in reverse, even with the sound off, it looks different from other videos before or after it. This being video online, it also allowed us to place our most beautiful and captivating frames at the beginning, before the viewer had a chance to skip. “We were all dancing on the bar,” is a better start to a story than, “a guy and a girl walk into a diner.”

Building a brand for this new audience meant breaking away from the standard fashion play of changing who people are and find real connection in the places and forms they were comfortable with. The campaign ran across video, digital and social (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and OOH) during key cultural moments. Influencer activities encouraged personal storytelling with contributed to more authentic and interesting visuals for campaign use.

The campaign overperformed goals including:

• 41% increase in social engagement

• Influencer engagement rate 2x industry average for comparable follower size

•All assets created across the length of campaign garnered 37.5M impressions and 5.2M video views across video, digital, social and OOH.

• 16% increase in CTR to Target.com

• Video completion rate of 93%, with 1.8M impressions and 258.6K video views.

• Established new brand and assets for US and global rollout