What’s in this article:
- The global iconic shoe manufacturing company launched a new-artist first brand campaign to showcase the creativity of artists
- The campaign is a good way to reinforce the association of the Vans brand with artistic creativity and to engage customers who value that through digital outreach
“These Projects Are Ads for Creativity“, is Vans’ “artist-first brand campaign that showcases creativity in its purest form.” The brand opted to put the spotlight on featured artists and their work as a celebration of “the diversity of creativity itself.”
Subscribers to Vans’ email list have already received notifications about the program. It featured a GIF that offered a fleeting glimpse of a few of the art works that are on view on the site.
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Rob Teague, Vans global executive creative director, explained: “Instead of creating advertising that talks about creativity, we wanted to use this campaign as a vehicle to showcase true, physical creativity in all of its forms. So, we simply enabled creatives all over the world to make things.”
The plan is to keep up the digital exhibition that offers pictures of the works, the artist, and a brief interview with each about their perspectives on art for a year at vans.com/offthewall and continuously add to it. Anyone who wishes to participate is invited to join the conversation with Vans by using the hashtag #OffTheWall on social media.
Normally artists get to exhibit at some experimental museums, fairs, or even draw in gatherings at parks. But the pandemic has removed most of those options, and so bringing them together under one virtual roof is a good way to get them noticed.
The campaign is also a good way to reinforce the association of the Vans brand with artistic creativity and to engage customers who value that through digital outreach. As Teague said, “That’s what Vans is all about – to not just talk about creative expression, but to actively champion it through our products, platforms and campaigns.”
Instead of following a conventional ad campaign approach, Vans committed their resources to support the physical act of creativity itself, empowering artists to bring their ideas to life in the vast forms that art can play. Unveiled as a digital hub of art projects at Vans.com/offthewall, Vans’ new brand campaign is an inspiring journey of discovery—while the website serves as a capsule of creativity that will continue to expand all year-long.
Inviting fans to discover new forms of creativity, Vans puts the artist and their stories at the forefront. Whether it’s San Francisco-based Rewina Beshue’s colorful paintings that explore themes of time, space and reality, Annabell Lee’s vibrant painted pillows that parallel her bold personality, Los Angeles photographer Anthony Acosta’s DIY darkroom process or Hong Kong’s Start From Zero’s disciplined woodworking practice – these artists convey a breadth of creative interpretations that represent a beloved global artist community. It’s through their physical tokens of art presented together that a collective beacon of creativity is manifested.
This ongoing creative journey will live on the Vans website all year long, cultivating a digital hub of global projects that will uplift various artist stories and inspire fans to create their own version of creativity in its purest form.