Be Different

The creative turn

An invitation to be different is easy to say and harder to turn into a choice. Merino's 2024 campaign by Lowe Lintas pairs a film with a style-led proposition; the brand's campaign page offers a trendbook and named collections to explore. Crazy Few Films and director Sharat Kumar are credited for production. The useful story continues beyond the headline.

Editorial interpretation: a design brand needs to translate the desire for individuality into something a customer can inspect. Otherwise the promise simply replaces one social pressure with another: choose what is fashionable, but call it unique. A catalogue or trendbook can provide the bridge if it explains options rather than presenting a single ideal personality. The creative challenge is to make exploration feel possible without implying that a person's originality depends on a purchase. The most transferable question is what happens immediately after someone agrees with the campaign. Can they compare, imagine and ask useful questions, or are they left with an appealing statement and no practical route forward?

The sources establish the film launch, credits and exploration materials, not uniqueness, product superiority or sales effects. The film's unspecified visual device is not reconstructed from incomplete descriptions.

Give the audience a way to explore the promise

A broad style invitation becomes more useful when it leads to a manageable set of options. For a fictional notebook-cover range, show several contrasting approaches and explain how each might suit a different use. Avoid treating one option as the correct expression of personality. The next step should reduce uncertainty rather than demand instant commitment. A small team can prototype this with a short comparison sheet before building a large catalogue. Ask whether the viewer can move from an abstract preference to a question about a particular option without needing an expert to interpret the campaign.

Make difference descriptive rather than competitive

Not every customer wants the most unusual design, and familiarity can be a legitimate preference. Describe what varies instead of ranking people by how bold their choices appear. An original range might differ in pattern density, contrast or available customisation, each with clear examples. This lets the customer decide what matters. It also protects the campaign from a contradiction in which everyone is told to demonstrate individuality by selecting the same promoted look. A credible invitation leaves room for restraint, repetition and practical constraints as well as novelty.

Check the handoff from image to information

An atmospheric film and a detailed catalogue often feel like separate worlds. Identify the cues that should carry across: a collection name, a visual principle or a question the viewer has just been encouraged to ask. Keep those cues consistent while changing the level of detail. The information page should not force someone to start the decision again from scratch. For a small organisation, this may be as simple as placing the relevant comparison beside the campaign rather than linking to a generic homepage. The handoff is part of the creative idea, not merely a distribution task.

Try the mechanism on another brief

Proposed adaptation: make an original mood-led poster and a four-option guide for a fictional notebook-cover service. Compare a version that ends with a broad individuality slogan against one that points directly to the guide. Ask six consenting adults to choose an option for an invented use scenario and explain what they would compare next. Include a restrained design as an equally valid choice. Use no proprietary patterns or real personal profiling. The exercise tests whether an expressive campaign gives people a practical route to exploration without defining their identity for them or treating novelty as evidence of quality.

Record how easily participants find the guide, whether they can describe meaningful differences and any pressure they feel to choose the boldest option. Preference for an image does not establish suitability, uniqueness or the original campaign's effectiveness.

Stop if the invitation makes ordinary preferences seem inadequate or the next step offers no useful comparison. Replace status language with clear options and an understandable route to them.