Dr Martens kicks off 'Tough as You' worldwide ad blitz

Dr Martens is launching its global autumn/winter 2019 campaign through We Are Social, designed to showcase the brand’s heritage and celebrate the “resilience and determination” of its customers around the world.
“Tough as You” stems from the insight that putting on a pair of Dr Martens makes the wearer feel unstoppable and centres around a number of contributors – tattoo artist Sarah Lu, musician Blaine, writer, singer and actor Nakhane and broadcasting trio Sistren – each sharing a story of a powerful moment of resilience and how they overcame adversity to become who they are today.
With production handled by We Are Social Studios, the campaign launches with a film, which will appear on the brand’s Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels in countries including the UK and US, as well as key markets in EMEA and APAC.
The film and accompanying stills were created in collaboration with photographer and director Alex de Mora, using the relatively unknown filming technique of Redscale, where the film is exposed from the wrong side, creating a strong colour shift to red and yellow tones.
Over the next few months, the film will be supported by an always-on content strategy to drive fans to a “Tough as You” online hub. The campaign will also include digital display and outdoor ads, as well as additional social media activity featuring a cut down version of the film showing individual contributors’ stories and behind-the-scenes footage. Dr Martens will also be running a paid media and influencer outreach activities to further spread the brand message.
Dr Martens global marketing director Andrea Moore said: “We know that the only thing tougher than our footwear are the people who choose to wear it. Rather than talk about ourselves, we’re telling four incredible stories of resilience, which everybody can relate to and will inspire our wearers to share ‘Tough As You’ stories of their own.”
We Are Social Studios executive producer Jo Lumb added: “The Dr Martens brand has a long history of doing things its own way. Using Redscale in the creative process enabled us to tell our contributors’ individual stories of resilience, while capturing the brand’s disruptive, punk attitude to create a truly unique look and feel for the campaign.”
Last month, the brand revealed a 70% jump in profits in the year to March 31 2019 to £454.4m. A major push to cut out third-party retailers eating into profits has seen direct-to-consumer revenues rise 42% to nearly £200m, with online sales soaring two-thirds to £72.7m.