Born To Go

Challenge

With the growing importance of millennial target groups and the rise of new competitors, Samsonite had to rejuvenate its brand image without losing touch of its heritage, authenticity, and drive for innovation.

Our challenge was to find a way to connect with the millennial mindset and translate that into a global story.

We learned that people with a millennial mindset, regardless of their age, are more active than ever. They travel more and to distant locations. They combine business and leisure travel. In their daily lives they mix activities and means of traffic.

Today’s urban nomad generation has a desire to see and do more. Our key insight was that being on the go has become a lifestyle. It defines who you are as a person. You are not a homebody. You are an active person. And cities are the places where it all happens.

As a brand we had to show we understand that people are born to go – and that we as a brand were born to go too and know that living an active life is exciting – but it can also be exhausting. That’s why we focused on making heavy travelling light, so that you can keep on moving, exploring and enjoying.

Inspiration

The campaign narrative is inspired by Samsonite’s commitment to create smart, durable and lightweight on-the-go solutions for purposeful travelers and commuters. In design and branding, we worked around a high-tech, high-energy style that was inspired by the city – the source of our design principles.

Idea

We developed a brand story, a new visual identity, and a global campaign toolkit. Addressing the desires of today’s highly mobile and experience-craving young urban nomads, we developed a new brand positioning: Samsonite is born to go because you are, which was translated into a new tagline: ‘Samsonite. Born to go.’

The toolkit contains film and photography and the brand video features a mix of urban life and nature themes. The film was shot in Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Cape Town and aired in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. It was made in collaboration with Hamlet, a creative production company, and Ben Strebel, a multi-award-winning director of music videos, content, fiction and commercials.

The campaign also features photography by renowned UK-based photographer Olly Burn and production company Making Pictures. The shots were taken on location in real, urban settings, during different times of day and in diverse weather conditions. These images have been used in the campaign for print, outdoor, in-store, and online media.

We also developed Samsonite Sans and Grilli Type, a custom font and typeface specifically designed to communicate the Born To Go message in a bold and proud way. The typeface was based on street signage, with flowing lines and curves that convey a sense of speed and dynamism found in the two design principles we started from: high-tech and high-energy, inspired by the city. These graphics can be both static and animated for a specific feature within the Samsonite range, like Handsfree Mobility and Eco.