A new BOSS campaign was rolled out yesterday for the spring/summer 2023 collection, tapping into Instagram and TikTok.
“BOSSes aren’t born, they’re made,” is the message of the new S/S23 campaign from BOSS, the core brand of German luxury brand HUGO BOSS.
Promoting the new collection may be the goal, but the campaign also intends to inspire by featuring people at the top of their respective fields: British supermodel Naomi Campbell, American supermodel Gigi Hadid, Colombian singer Maluma, South Korean actor Lee Minho, Italian TikTok creator Khaby Lame and Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini. Dressed in the label’s current collection, the stars are featured alongside childhood photos of themselves to emphasize how far they have come.
The campaign comes after a restructuring of the brand’s creative team and the launching of a new strategy in early 2022. Like many recent campaigns, it focuses on social media in the hopes of reaching a younger target audience to achieve a form of success that is less tangible than sales figures: cultural relevance. CEO Daniel Grieder told WWD: “Today relevance is the new legacy.”
This is why, alongside the primary campaign, celebrities, influencers, and public personalities have been tapped to take part in the campaign via Instagram. They include media personality Paris Hilton, singer Demi Lovato, musician DJ Khaled, actress Christina Ricci, drag queen Gottmik, model Aaron Rose Philip, and makeup artist NikkieTutorials.
The campaign also plans to infiltrate TikTok, encouraging creators to walk into the frame wearing BOSS outfits and striking a pose while doing something they love before transitioning to a picture of their younger selves. It emulates the various past TikTok trends, which included imagery of users’ childhood selves, whether for inspirational, heartwarming, or comedic purposes. But the tricky part is that brands can’t control what goes viral, and taking inspiration from a viral trend doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.
BOSS also hopes to capitalize on the success of face-manipulating filters and AI technology. For instance, the Lensa AI app that exploded late last year churns out AI-generated images of users in different settings and art styles in exchange for a few dollars. Consumers are encouraged to get involved via an Instagram filter for the BOSS campaign. It allows users to upload pictures of their younger selves and combine their childhood facial features with a present-day selfie.
With the oldest members of Gen Z now in their early to mid-twenties, brands that have built a presence with them will reap the benefits of their increased spending power as they grow up. Although the success of the newly-released campaign is yet to be determined, the company’s preliminary results for the fiscal year of 2022 indicate a sales growth of 27%, which the CEO attributes to their new digital-first strategy.
Imagery courtesy of Hugo Boss.
