Case Study
Launching wearable technology for Michael Kors across branding, packaging, apps, marketing, advertising and events with partners Google and Fossil.

Scope of Work
Branding & Purpose Film
Product & Packaging
Wearable Apps
Global Advertising Campaign
Product Imagery
Social Content
Website Design & Content
Visual & Retail Support
Instore Education Content
Launch Events

Branding & Purpose Film

Michael Kors had long been known as a leader in the watch space. As smartwatch technology started to take off, Michael wanted to make sure he could put his fashion take on the emerging category.

My team was responsible for leading the creative across all areas to support the category launch. We worked closely with the Google and Fossil teams to bring this to life. And as much as our internal team at Michael Kors understood fashion and our brand implicitly, we needed a partner that knew how to launch new technology products. As such, we brought R/GA on as our partner for specific areas of the launch. 

After we landed on the name for the new category, my team went to work on the logo. Because the product approach was to maintain classic watch shapes that happened to also contain powerful technology, our logo embraced the refined design language that Michael was known for. We used the custom Michael Kors Sans we created for the brand as the base and added just enough refinements to the letterforms to speak to the technology within. We built out a brand and design guidelines to ensure all partners across the partnership were consistent.

Lastly we created a film that spoke to the purpose of the new category and how it related back to the core brand. We used this piece to ensure consistency of vision internally, with our partners and eventually to help our customers understand this new category.

Packaging and App

We worked closely with the Fossil team on all elements of packaging knowing how important the unboxing experience is in tech products. We created a custom rigid box with a sleeve to ensure an elevated experience regardless of retail outlet. As some of the stores required self selection, the sleeve solved our need to visually distinguish each product within. 

We partnered closely with R/GA on the UI design and development for the app that paired the watch, downloaded all new faces and tracked all activity. R/GA was also instrumental in creating the microapp that allowed all customization on the watch itself. 

Global Advertising Campaign

We aligned with Google and Fossil that the focus of the campaign needed to showcase the watch's key functionality within Michael's quintessential aesthetic. Because of the scale of the launch, we needed content to fulfill media from TVC, OOH, Print, Digital and Social. After our team did the content planning, we concepted a film that collaged all of the features together. Our goal was to also have each break down to highlight a single feature. We were lucky enough to have the current face of the brand, Andreea Diaconu, cast as the lead for the campaign. We tapped Samy Mosher to direct and Steven Pan to lens the campaign that was shot over 2 days. Nick Cope lent his talents for the watch still life images to complete the necessary asset  My team managed the post process and created every paid media execution as well as all owned and organic channels. We also delivered campaign guidelines that aided in consistency in execution across the globe.

Microsite & In-store Education

We partnered closely with R/GA on both the Access Microsite as well as the in-store education. The site told a deep product story and allowed for customer trial of different watch faces, watch bands and brought features to life to bring consumers from consideration to conversion. 

For in-store, we advocated for ipads to allow for more enhanced self education. This allowed for a more controlled experience, especially in wholesale doors where training and high consumer touch was most challenging. The experience took advantage of the lifestyle content to tell the story of all of the watch features and showcased not just the smart watches, but also the activity trackers. 

Launch Event

We celebrated the launch of Access during fashion week with a celebrity and influencer rich event. We amplified the launch via owned social channels and media partners as well as on celebrity and influencer channels. 

Credits

CCO: Michael Kors
VP Global Creative: Ryan Jones
Director: Samy Mosher / Stadium
Lifestyle Photography: Steven Pan
Still Life Photography: Nicholas Cope
Styling: Paul Cavaco
Art Direction & Design: Mikael Kangas & Michael Chilton
Renderings, Apps, Microsite & In-store Content: R/GA
Event Coverage: Spreadhouse & Ikwa

CONTACT

©2024 RYAN ROBERT JONES