Brand: Stance
Published: July 2018
Synopsis:
Stance unveiled its Fall 2018 brand campaign –“Uncover the Uncommon” – a multi-dimensional creative endeavor that serves as both an invitation and an exploration into what it means to bring uncommon creative expression to the common every day.
In a first for the brand, the cohesive cross-category, dual-gender campaign brings together all of its lines of basics – socks, underwear, and an upcoming category set to launch on July 17th– as well as pulls in wide array of consumer categories into one creative point-of-view and one overarching message. The campaign nods to what the brand itself has accomplished by uncovering the potential of an overlooked basics category – socks – but at its core, ‘Uncover the Uncommon’ is meant as an invitation for people to reinvent their world by finding and unleashing their own creativity.
“Stance has done an exceptional job at building authenticity within the various worlds we live in from surf and skate culture to performance sports, lifestyle and fashion niche markets. But as the brand has grown, our creative and storytelling needed to find a better way to connect our diversified product categories as well as unify our position within the market,” said Candy Harris, Chief Marketing Officer of Stance. “With this campaign, we champion what the brand is truly about, regardless of category: We celebrate human originality, and we want to inspire people to express their own.”
The campaign tells the story of ‘Uncover the Uncommon’ through its roster of brand ambassadors, known as Punks & Poets, as well as by highlighting everyday people who have injected creative thinking into the world, and in so doing, have positively impacted those around them. The brand’s original mantra – ‘The Uncommon Thread‘– is brought to life visually through the inclusion of thread throughout the print and video portions of the campaign to serve as a continuous creative identity.
The campaign was developed in-house by Stance’s creative and marketing teams with video production collaboration with Portland-based Kamp Grizzly. The print portion features the thread art of Mexican artist Victoria Villasana, and Chilean artist Jose Rosmissi who is based in Berlin. By taking the portraits of 11 Punks & Poets and threading visual cues into them that convey pieces of their personalities and unique ways of seeing the world, these portraits establish the first piece of creative for ‘Uncover the Uncommon.’ The 11 Punks & Poets include James Harden, Nora Vasconcellos, John John Florence, Lauren Fleshman, Jimmy Chin, Ishod Wair, Bubba Watson, Gemita Samarra, Jossi Wells, Felipe Toledo, and Jose Altuve, with more to follow.
Secondary action images of each Punk & Poet incorporate another layer of thread art, and the third image for each ambassador showcases a piece of Stance product that they wear. The three-part series of print creative tells a progressive story about seeing the world as a canvas for self-expression.
This series uncovers everyday people who have injected creativity into something that could easily be overlooked, and in the process, have inspired and changed the world of those around them. The first spot of ‘Uncover Your Uncommon’ features North Carolina fifth grade teacher Barry White Jr. Known affectionately as ‘the handshake teacher,” the simple act of creating a unique handshake based on the personality of each child in his class has changed the lives of his students and perfectly exemplifies how a simple act of creativity can inspire others to see the world, and themselves, differently.
“We marvel at how our customers bring self-expression to their every day, proving that creative originality isn’t reserved for celebrity athletes or artists,” said Harris. “So many amazing people have seen themselves in our brand, and we wanted to put them center stage.”
#uncovertheuncommon.