“Are you crazy?” George said to Tommy. “It will take you 20 years to build a brand that way!”
“George” is the legendary ad man and creative director George Lois. The man behind brands like Xerox, MTV, and Jiffy Lube.
“Tommy” is Tommy Hilfiger.
It’s 1985, and the unknown Hilfiger is about to launch his own label, but he’s facing a huge marketing challenge: how to get noticed in a market dominated by established brands like Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, and Ralph Lauren.
Tommy has the clothes; what he needs is attention, and his initial idea for the campaign is typical of what every other fashion brand does: Photograph young models on the beach in the Hamptons.
George isn’t buying it.
His belief is that big, bold, and audacious ideas are the way to build brands.
“Advertising is poison gas,” he once told a host on a TV talk show. “It should unhinge your nervous system. It should knock you out!”
George shows Tommy ads of top fashion brands with the logo removed from the artwork and challenges him to identify the brands. When he can’t, the point is clear:
Sameness and mediocrity make your brand invisible.
The Tommy Hilfiger brand launches in 1986 with a giant billboard in Times Square that reads:
THE 4 GREAT AMERICAN DESIGNERS FOR MEN ARE:
R _ _ _ _ L _ _ _ _ _
P_ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _
C _ _ _ _ _ K _ _ _ _
T_ _ _ _ H _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The provocative ad sets off a whirlwind of publicity in New York, and overnight, the question becomes:
“Who the hell is T_ _ _ _ H _ _ _ _ _ _ _?” .
A Newsweek article estimates the media budget is $20 million.
In reality, it’s $200,000.
The campaign works because it’s bold, audacious, and unlike anything else at the time.
It also serves as a reminder: trends are traps.
“In any creative industry,” writes Lois, “The fact that others are moving in a certain direction is always proof positive that a new direction is the only direction.”