Cole Haan’s Homage to Pre-Digital Icons

Millennials may be advertisers’ most coveted demographic – digital, savvy, always on – but Cole Haan’s latest campaign is paying homage to a very different cohort.

With “Born in 1928,” Cole Haan salutes the amazing people born before the digital age, and plays off of nostalgia for a bygone era.

Poet Maya Angelou, model and fashion editor China Machado, Apollo 13 commander Capt. Jim Lovell, and photographer Elliott Erwitt were all born the year Cole Haan opened for business. (Well, Machado was actually born in 1929, but she gets a pass.) And all appear in elegant, high-contrast photos and videos for the brand’s Born in 1928 campaign. In each video, one of the notable models shares an anecdote form his or her life, while sporting item’s from the brand’s Fall line, naturally.

“We really believe this campaign, like our brand, has transcendent appeal. Our icons are cross-generationally inspiring because of their substance and equal relevance then and now,” said Erin Riley, vp of brand communication for Cole Haan.

The shoes and accessories manufacturer has been using Facebook to drive customers to their sweepstakes to win one of 13 pairs of “silver LunarGrands,” a shoe inspired by the Captain Jim Lovell – and start wistful conversations around the brand and its octogenarian models. “Wow, so many memories, thanks!” reads a typical Facebook fan comment.

Cole Haan also has a dedicated Pinterest board to feature well-known fine artists who were born in 1928. Works from Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, and Osamu Tezuka all serve the campaign theme.

The goal, said Riley, is that the brand comes across as authentic, true to its own 1928 beginnings. “This campaign used the simple theme of ‘Born in 1928’ to highlight people who embody our values and who have been at it as long as we have.” Which, maybe, even the most fickle millennial can get behind.

https://digiday.com/?p=53082

More in Marketing

At the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Mastercard joins a pack of consumer brands flocking to Formula One

For marketers looking to align their brands with F1’s expanded appeal to audiences, the Las Vegas Grand Prix is providing a slip road into the sport.

Why PepsiCo and EA are expanding their partnership into mobile: A Q&A with PepsiCo vp of global sports and entertainment partnerships Adam Warner

The planned, multi-year nature of PepsiCo’s integration into “EA Sports FC” reflects that both PepsiCo and Electronic Arts are playing the long game as they look to step up the presence of ads inside and beyond EA’s portfolio of sports titles.

Key takeaways from Digiday’s 2024 Gaming Advertising Forum

Now that gaming has gone from a buzzword to a regular presence in brands’ media mix, marketers are more closely scrutinizing the value and ROI of their investments in this channel — and the platforms are rising to the challenge. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from this week’s Gaming Advertising Forum.