Launching a First-Ever Brand Campaign for a Longstanding Canadian Fashion Label
As of next fall, Canadian fashion label SMYTHE will be celebrating 20 years in business. In that time, it’s gone from focusing on tailored blazers to creating full seasonal collections - a remarkable transformation - but one that’s only been highlighted by targeted digital campaigns.
So, in keeping with this evolutionary journey, the brand and partner agency Open Creative (Open) decided it was time for a changeup. Launching SMYTHE’s first-ever brand campaign, out-of-home (OOH), digital video, Meta and Google ads were all channels through which the agency announced its offerings to the world. Specifically, the ads were centred around international model Nikki McGuire, all of which were shot by photographer Christopher Wahl with the purpose of creating high-impact visuals to showcase the brand’s suiting and tailoring capabilities, with looks from both the fall collection, and always-available ‘House Collection’.
To learn more, LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Open account director Hillary Pitcher, partner and creative director Martin Beauvais, and SMYTHE’s head of marketing and ecommerce, Sonya Weisberg, discussing how this came to life, and specifically, why a campaign centred around OOH made sense for the brand.
LBB> What was the brief for this campaign, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Sonya> We’ve been creative partners with Open for many years; they’ve seen and supported our growth over time and understand our needs. As such, the original brief was quite simple: create greater brand awareness and with that, encourage a growth in sales. SMYTHE has a solid existing customer-base, particularly here in Canada, but we were ready to reach out to new audiences across North America.
Hillary> The brand has grown steadily in every way over its 20-year lifetime, and so this seemed like the right moment to match that evolution with an expanded customer-base.
To do this, we explored a few creative avenues, and in concert with the client, ended up settling on a simple approach that would make for impactful creative: feature SMYTHE’s clothing looking epic, on a model who would uniquely bring it to life, in an interesting, architectural setting.
LBB> This actually represents the brand’s first foray into the world of OOH. Why was this the right choice creatively speaking, and what was the concepting process like?
Hillary> In keeping with supporting the brand’s evolution, OOH seemed a natural extension of the digital outreach they typically do. We considered several different ways to approach OOH, in different markets, but ultimately decided to keep the focus on SMYTHE's homebase of Toronto, with OOH faces close to its flagship store in the Summerhill neighbourhood.
Making a splash with our visuals was top-of-mind throughout the process – through concepting, pre-production, production and post, we had an eye on what would yield the most beautiful, visually-captivating results.
While prepping, we carefully considered the location and the talent that would best showcase SMYTHE’s clothing. Once we had the images in post, we played with combining them in panels for greater impact, as seen on the billboard and some of the digital executions.
Sonya> We’ve seen some excellent results with our digital outreach (ie, promoted posts, remarketing ads, etc.), but in wanting to reach new people, we wanted to include other outlets as well.
From there, we looked at a number of different options for OOH, taking into consideration what formats and locations would best align with our brand character. For us, quality of placement was more important than quantity – we wanted to capture the attention of the right audience.
LBB> Building on this, this also represents the first time the company has solely promoted the brand itself. What inspired this decision, and is this something we can expect to see more of down the line?
Sonya> That’s right – historically, we’ve mostly promoted our seasonal collection launches which happen several times a year, or specific moments such as the launch of the Summerhill store.
In line with our continued evolution, and in wanting to speak to new potential customers, it just made sense to treat the work as an introduction to the brand itself. And yes, I think it’s something we’ll continue to explore as we continue to grow!
LBB> Specifically, how did you work with Christopher Wahl to approach shooting in a way that would lead to high-impact visuals? And why was he the right photographer for the job?
Hillary> Like Open, Christopher Wahl is a longtime creative partner of SMYTHE; he has done most of the brand’s photography for many years. But beyond that, he has an amazing body of work, with a portfolio that features iconic shots of The Rolling Stones, Queen Elizabeth II, Serena Williams and many, many other illustrious names. Chris’ proven talent, as well as his long standing relationship with SMYTHE, made him the right fit.
In working with Chris, once we had booked our talent, settled upon a location and lined up production, we just got out of his way! We had spent a fair bit of time in pre-production reviewing and discussing the vision we’d agreed upon with the client, so that during the shoot we were able to turn it to Chris to do his thing.
Sonya> At this point, we really have a shorthand with Chris. He has an incredible eye and always returns beautiful shots, but also, having a longstanding relationship with us means that he just knows what to look for. He has a knack for making the talent feel comfortable, which in turn makes for more dynamic images and smoother shoots.
LBB> Tell us about your time on set! Where did you shoot, how long did it take, and do you have any anecdotes from the experience?
Hillary> The shoot was one day, on location at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus. We had been scouting for locations that provided a variety of clean and minimal yet interesting and architectural backdrops. After visiting in person, we knew we’d found what we were looking for.
All in all, we had a great time! As is often the case, pre-production had, at times, been somewhat hectic, with everyone busily doing their part to bring the pieces together. So, when the shoot came around, we were quite prepared and able to enjoy the process. Not only that, it was a beautiful day, we had an awesome crew, the location was perfect, we got all our shots... Good vibes all around! (And, I did set an all-time personal record for the most steps recorded in a day: 28,700.)
LBB> When shooting for the world of fashion, how does the approach change compared to developing a traditional ad? And how was this reflected in the way you executed the work?
Martin> When shooting for a traditional ad, you shoot exactly what you have in mind (give or take). BUT, when shooting for fashion, you plan for the best conditions for the model to do their best work (best light, best location, best stylist, etc.). The magic really happens in the moment.
The best photographers are also integral in making this happen, as you can't storyboard it. In this case we had a great location, photographer, AND top-notch talent. We just let it happen. The images in the end are powerful and stunning. There is tension and drama in these images, but in a good way. There is a lot of ‘LOOK-AT-ME-NOW’ energy.
LBB> The accompanying spot is also super punchy! How did this come to life?
Hillary> Thank you! We were definitely lucky that the creative stars aligned on our shoot – the lighting was good, our model delivered, the clothing looked amazing – making for inherently gorgeous footage.
Beyond that, we crafted the spot in post with input from the client. The videographer who shot the footage is an editor as well, so we worked with him closely. Even though the spot is short, we still wanted to tell a bit of a story – introducing the clothing and environment, then focusing in on the beautiful, precise details, before pulling back to take in the entire look with some movement. After that, we enhanced the film with a colourist and an online artist to give it that final polish.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project, and what lessons did you learn in the process?
Hillary> The challenges we faced were mostly logistical, and probably typical to many productions with several moving pieces, such as lining up everyone’s schedules for the shoot and in post. Having a good working relationship with a client is always helpful in solving these however, and so we worked through things as they arose, as a team.
As for lessons, you can wear white after Labour Day!
Sonya> Aside from scheduling, we might have spent a bit more time looking at locations than typical, as we wanted to be sure we had the right backdrops that aligned with our creative and logistical needs. However, we overcame these challenges with good old-fashioned teamwork and communication!
LBB> How does this campaign fit into SMYTHE’s plans for 2023 and beyond?
Sonya> The rest of the year and beyond will see more of what this campaign represents, which is continued evolution and outreach to new markets.
LBB> Finally, has making this campaign made you yourself want to get something from SMYTHE?
Hillary> Haha, YES!
