Pop-Culture Provocateurs Rework Origin Stories

Reaffirming their status as pop-cultural forces whose provocative stances put them at the cutting edge, Nike, Levi’s and Ford have updated iconic campaigns from the 1960s and 80s to show they still warrant that slot in the contemporary consumer psyche. It’s a tactic with multi-generational appeal: making older consumers feel seen, while hooking ‘newstalgia’-bewitched Gen Z.

Nerd Out: Delivering to the Devotees

Savvy tech and sports brands are creating activations and spaces that nurture specific pockets of fandom rather than catering to the casual masses. Unveiling past – and incoming – research and development (R&D) and strategy, these activations, which sit both online and in physical spaces, enable disciples to get closer to the intelligence behind a brand than ever before.

Founder Stories Add Human Spark

Other brands are mining founders’ and their families’ inspirational creative origin stories – hitching heritage to powerful human backstories and providing a privileged glimpse into the environments that informed, or were shaped by, a creative pioneer’s psyche. These spaces can be key to refreshing, reinterpreting, or even semi-manufacturing critical brand myth.

Greatest Hits: Spotlighting the Best of Past Collabs

Fashion brands are taking a ‘greatest hits’ approach to their collaborations to emphasise their enduring status as artistic cognoscenti. This archival-but-with-vital-new-inflections viewpoint allows brands to lean back into an original buzz and extend the lifespan of expensive projects. For consumers/fans, there’s the thrill of a second opportunity to grab coveted but seemingly long-gone pieces/experiences.

Decades-Spanning Dependability

Mass market brands including department store John Lewis, confectionery giant Cadbury and telecoms group Vodafone (all British) with decades – sometimes centuries – behind them are keying into their ultra-reliable nature as the backbone of daily life. These campaigns posit their historic longevity as comforting, companion-esque permanence – and constant appeal – in a global permacrisis.

Rarity & Emotive Era Recall: Archival Colour Revives Design Legacy

BMW and American kitchen and bathroom manufacturer Kohler are keying into heritage colourways as a shortcut to design legacies that deliver a comforting hit of nostalgia while retaining contemporary design codes and/or paying homage to rarity.