Behind Mejuri’s artful ads from Gia Coppola

Mejuri has long approached marketing differently. The direct-to-consumer jewelry brand typically targets women directly, rather than men buying for women, and also encourages everyday jewelry purchases rather than focusing on special occasions. Its latest ad campaign eschews tradition as well. See Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brand Leaders and Work here Working with The Directors Bureau, Mejuri tapped filmmaker Gia Coppola to shoot a series of three ads that play more like art films—featuring five friends, sporting a lot of Mejuri pieces, who are seen interacting in private moments as they navigate changes in their lives. A 2:18 film dropped Friday on the brand’s social accounts, featuring the friends stocking up at a grocery store while on vacation together: Two more shorter episodes will follow, which Ad Age can reveal exclusively here: The films are notable for their easy style, with the talent—real-life friends, not actors—sharing ordinary moments against a backdrop of larger upheaval in their lives. Both the filmmaker and the brand told Ad Age that these less obvious moments are often where life’s most meaningful interactions occur. Also read: How Mejuri competes with larger players “I was talking with our creative team at The Directors Bureau, Natalie Vall-Freed and Duffy Culligan,” said Coppola. “Natalie was talking about being in her early 30s and at that diverging point in your life when your life and your friends’ lives are really starting to shift, but it’s how those small, in-between moments end up more memorable than the ‘memorable moment’—stocking up at the market with friends while on vacations, etc. I loved the nuance of that idea. It reminded me of ‘Seinfeld’—‘a show about nothing.’” “The moments that ultimately you feel so affected by, and often live so vividly within your memory, are not necessarily the things you would anticipate being so,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer at Mejuri. “It’s not always the perfect photo on the beach of the sunset that you remember most.” At the outset of the project, Jordan said he knew Mejuri’s point of difference—elevating everyday moments—was “campaign worthy.” But he worried the message would get lost if the advertising didn’t feel authentic. Entrusting someone such as Coppola to capture the vibe seemed the most credible solution. The Directors Bureau “instantly said this was something Gia might be excited about,” he recalled. “When Gia and the team shared their treatment, they took it to a place way beyond anything I could have ever envisioned.” The Mejuri product is hardly hidden in the shots—indeed, the camera lingers on many of the pieces—yet the effect is less blatant product placement than an exploration of each character’s style, Jordan said. “It’s not so much trying to focus on the product but on the cast and their individual style—and the product becomes part of that,” he said. “[The talent’s] different styles and personalities bring such a strong point of view to the product and makes it seem quite present.” Jordan added that he largely let Coppola determine that balance. “You don’t work with somebody as gifted and creative as Gia and sit there and tell her what to do,” he said. For her part, Coppola said she was grateful to the brand for “not forcing product on the audience. Let’s create a world and characters that feel relatable, and the rest will follow. I’m so tired of commercials feeling fake.” Coppola said her approach was inspired in part by her grandmother, Eleanor Coppola, who died in April at age 87. Eleanor had made her own short films elevating simple moments in life. “Acknowledging her work and her point of view made me feel close to her. I love how she finds interest and beauty in all the little details of life,” Coppola said. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here The campaign lives in full on the Mejuri site, with cutdowns in organic social and paid digital driving there. Jordan said this kind of storytelling is unique for the category, and may be the beginning of more in this vein from Mejuri. “We want to start to leverage more conversion-driven channels and tactics to drive back to this long-form content,” he said. “We’re excited to see what we can learn there.” Mejuri will be tracking metrics such as consideration and brand sentiment, not just sales, in measuring the success of the campaign.

Behind Mejuri’s artful ads from Gia Coppola

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