Brandweek: French sportswear brand Lacoste this week will launch a global campaign via French agency BETC, Paris, that embraces the brand’s connection to 1930’s French tennis champion Rene Lacoste in an energetic, modern way.
“This is a big campaign for us and we wanted to launch it in a really big way,” said Sarah Penchansky, pr manager.
Creative consists of two-page spreads with an image of a racquet-wielding Rene Lacoste on one side and a current image, such as a young woman leaping through the air wearing a white skirt and vest on the other. The photos incorporate licensed product such as hats, bags and shoes for a unified look.
“All of these images are inspired by him playing on the court, which is the spirit of the crocodile,” Penchansky said. “This is the first time we have used these images of him.”
A French tagline, “un peu d’air sur terre,” which roughly translated means, “a little air on earth,” drives home the theme of air, energy and movement. “It’s really different from our previous campaign, which was much more generic and not a lot of motion,” Penchansky said. “This definitely embraces the feeling of Lacoste a lot more. It’s levity, it’s light, air and movement, and you can see that in all the images. Lacoste is movement. Our roots are in tennis. This definitely hits a nerve.”
