Brand ambassadors are a pretty big thing these days. In the past, companies could just hire a model for a day, shoot great photos and wait for their customers to hit the stores. Now people want someone they understand and can relate to – an actor, a footballer, a musician maybe: an aspirational figure whose success rubs off on the product and becomes part of a bigger story. When online retailer Zalando decided they wanted someone to spearhead the Nordic menswear campaigns for the next twelve months, they wanted someone from that part of the world who had achieved something in a bigger scenario than just being an influencer and also who had a sense of personal style.
Eventually, they chose the charismatic ex-ice hockey player, Siim Liivik from Finland (presumably Moomintroll had other commitments). The first results were just released in the form of a series of ads and videos featuring the new brand ambassador in various situations around Helsinki – eating breakfast outside a cafe in his pyjamas, drinking coffee whilst ice-skating, etc. – that captured both his sense of humour but also the huge diversity of clothing available from the retailer.
By way of a launch, Zalando held a dinner, hosted by Siim himself, in a photo studio in downtown Helsinki. The Editors were invited, and so Graham found himself on a chilly Tuesday evening with a group of the city’s rather stylish fashion and creative crowd. We watched a preview of the advertisements, drank champagne, listened to some live music and ate a dinner worthy of Vikings (albeit very sophisticated ones) consisting of reindeer tartar and wild boar tagine. What little we saw of the city (it was dark the whole time we were there) looked lovely, and it was great to see a brand ambassador who seemed really invested in the job he has been given (Siim’s thank you speech was heartfelt and worthy of the Oscars). More info here.
Check Graham’s coverage here:
