Converse continues to target Gen Z with creator-focused brand campaign

Converse is already resonating with Gen Z consumers—but it wants to maintain that relationship and continue to attract new young consumers. To do so, it’s debuting its first brand campaign in four years, “Create Now. Create Next.” The creator-focused work positions the Nike-owned sneaker brand as a teller of individual creator stories. “This is an opportunity for our brand to continue to talk to Gen Z consumers through the lens of creative expression,” said Sejal Shah Miller, who joined Converse as chief marketing officer last year, noting multiple categories such as music, sports, art and fashion. “We create for Gen Z but we’re also creating with them.” The new push, created with McCann Worldgroup, showcases 20 individual creatives and creative teams from 18 different cities. The lineup, which includes both established and emerging names, includes the likes of Serwah Attafuah, a multidisciplinary artist and musician in Australia; Usha Jey, an artist and choreographer from Paris; and Turnstile, a punk band based in Maryland. Shah Miller said one objective of the campaign was to reach consumers on a global level, since she noted that nearly 70% of Gen Z consumers don’t identify with one single culture or country. “Some social platforms tend to prefer known names or established creators, but we were looking to shift the paradigm of bringing together creatives of different levels—emerging and established—in one campaign,” Shah Miller said. Each creator is featured in a 6-second video that can run independently, and then all 20 are woven together into one longer anthem spot. The campaign has been teased on Converse’s own social platforms as the brand allows customers to discover it organically, but it will officially debut today with paid content on digital channels such as Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Spotify and YouTube. Videos will run in a variety lengths. In addition, Converse is running out-of-home and transit ads in cities including London, Los Angeles, Berlin and Cape Town. Converse will also be running ads on Hulu in North America. Yet the campaign will purposely not include any ads on linear TV, Shah Miller said. “We are advertising from the lens of our consumer versus being tempted by platforms other brands are on,” she said. “We’re being authentic to where we know our consumer is—fully digital and social.” Converse worked with Initiative on media duties. A recent Ad Age-Harris Poll tracking Gen Z attention for brands ranked Converse in the top spot as young consumers gravitate toward the sneaker marketer’s collaborations with the likes of Kendrick Lamar. On brand equity, the brand grew 8.7 points from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2022. Sales-wise, Converse is also in growth mode. In its most recent quarterly report, Nike said the brand increased sales 2% to $643 million compared with the year-earlier period. That figure was led by double-digit growth in North America and Europe. ~ ~ ~ CORRECTION: Converse will not run out-of-home ads in Sydney, Australia, as reported in a previous version of this article. The information was incorrectly supplied by the company. Ad Age Next: Streaming Get your tickets for the Nov. 10 event in New York and use the code AA50 for $50 off Register here

Converse continues to target Gen Z with creator-focused brand campaign

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