2011 Smith Brand Refresh
Consistent Design, Real Messaging, and Shutting Down an Int'l Airport
2011 Smith Optics campaign by the numbers: 373 goggles shot, 106 helmets shot, 218 pages of catalogs designed, 2 location shoots, and 1 international airport shut down for hours (yep, that's right). Smith Optics proudly reigns as the #1 goggle brand and #2 helmet brand in North America, #1 sunglass brand in the outdoor category, and a top 5 sunglass brand in the highly competitive sun category. How did all of this happen? Read on. This season we were challenged to bring to life a consistent, unifying message and visual center that could be shared with 4 disparate categories within Smith's line: snow, sun, motocross, and their military elite line. Smith had found that their “We make the great days better” statement resonates well with all of their audiences. This is a perfect Corizontal message that anyone can identify and adopt. This maxim is the focal point of our campaign. With the centerpiece in place, it was time to compose this massive effort’s storyline. After years of suggestion, we were green lit to organize Smith team photo trips. This was the perfect opportunity to capture and illustrate how Smith truly “makes the great days better”, as proven by their athletes. Nemo was able to art direct, shoot (lifestyle photography by Mark Welsh), and orchestrate a year’s worth of assets to be used in ads, web, catalogs, POP, etc. By streamlining this complicated process, all of the assets were directed, designed and deployed by Nemo. This proved to be of great value to Smith and the campaign. The result is a cohesive story woven throughout all of their categories, a visual center providing guidelines for international distributors to ensure global consistency, and firmly positioning Smith Optics as leaders in eyewear and helmets. In the words of Jay Floyd, long time Smith Art Director, "A true ass kicking!"
