The Diesel Brand and the Cult of Stupidity

The Diesel brand was born more than 20 years ago and is today an innovative international design company, manufacturing jeans and casual clothing as well as accessories. It is present in over 80 countries with 10,000 points of sale and almost 50 company-owned stores.  


From the very beginning, Diesel’s design team rejected the slavish trend-following typical of the fashion industry, turned their backs on the style-dictators and consumer forecasters of the fashion establishment and let their own tastes lead them. In short, the company viewed the world as a single, border-less macro-culture. Today Diesel is a global brand with a consolidated annual turnover of 575 billion Lire (US$ 330 millions), 85% of which is generated outside Italy.


From an agency standpoint, we can only imagine that working on a Diesel campaign would be a great deal of fun.  The Diesel brand seems to acknowledge the stupidity of brands at large (and life and general) becoming a parody and caricature of itself - a mirror to the absurdity of the human condition.  





The essence of all Diesel creative is fun, clever innovation with a touch of mischief - and despite being a global brand Diesel's 'Be Stupid' campaign has provided some breakthrough work in different markets around the world.  You may remember Diesel’s ‘Safe For Work Fruity Porn’ (below) or the recent ‘Diesel Island’ campaign.

The latest example is Diesel’s recent promotion of its footwear in Japan. Diesel wanted to offer consumers a chance to enjoy being stupid, while communicating a 'kick ass' theme to its young, fashion-conscious target audience. So what’s so different about Diesel shoes?  You guessed it. They are superior for 'kicking ass’.  So how do they evidence this simple insight while generating buzz and peaking interest across social networks?

If Diesel sneakers were made for kicking ass (a cultural faux-pas in Japan) then the most obvious choice was to give shoppers the opportunity to test the brand's claim.  A 'Kick Ass Hall' was built at the Nagisa Music Festival where Diesel turned the idea of ‘kicking ass’ into a game. In said game, participants competed to see how far they could kick a willing volunteer (dubbed 'the Asser') down a short track.  

The incentive? A pair of Diesel sneakers of course to the contestant who succeeded in kicking the Asser the farthest down the track.  We should note that the role of ‘Asser’ came with an attractive remuneration package of ¥50,000 per day and the ‘Asser’ recruitment exercise served to generate even more PR hype before the event.

RESULTS

• The ‘Asser’ recruitment story was ranked the top new story for several days on Mixi news, the largest social network in Japan. 
• PR coverage equivalent to more than ¥30,000,000, was generated during the course of the campaign, which included coverage in both online and print.
• More than 3,300 tweets were received during the campaign phase.
• Diesel received more than 4,960 applications from prospective ‘Assers’
• All activities generated buzz and product interest all while reinforcing the brand attributes.

Diesel's "Facepark" and the "Be Stupid" Campaign

As part of Diesel's "Be Stupid" campaign, the brand wanted to highlight the ridiculousness of wasting so much time on social networks and decided to get people to waste time in parks instead. This led to "Facepark", described as a "stupid idea that might save the world. But probably won't". The idea, devised by DDB Düsseldorf, was to bring the clichés of social media platforms back to the real world in a very literal way.

For one day, Diesel created an analogue version of Facebook, called Facepark - effectively a mini festival in a park in Berlin. The brand created cardboard cut out profiles, which users could frame their faces with, just like on the real social networks. They could fill in a box with their "status" and also write comments on the cardboard and some of their friends. People could become friends with others by attaching their name to a friend's cardboard profile. Cardboard stands complete with actors were created for fan groups or applications such as Farmville and Mafia Wars, which people could then comment upon using stickers. They could add "like" stickers to people, groups and comments.

Diesel also created giant foam hands with which to "poke" fellow Faceparkers as well as small Frisbees upon which people could write messages before throwing to a friend. Bands including the Hotlaing, Bodi Bill and Holden Caulfield, provided the entertainment.

The campaign was supported by a website, featuring the event details, a community section, and a range of viral videos. One people to create their "Ass Status", i.e. log into their Facebook account, put the cursor into the status bar and then sit on your keyboard before posting whatever random combination of letters appeared.

Diesel's Facepark also has an associated "Stupid is Analog" Facebook Page.  There's also a manual called "How to Facepark". 

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Goodbuzz creates social media campaigns that entice consumers to play, create, and share brand experiences. We focus on developing "branded utility" - moving away from interruptive 'push' models towards more meaningful ways of connecting.  From simple metrics to actionable insights that enable data-driven marketing decisions - Goodbuzz links social media efforts to business outcomes.  Visit Goodbuzz Inc.

ADIDAS AND DIESEL COLLABORATION TO TARGET YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK

Adidas, the #2 athletic footwear maker, is branching out into new arenas; creating films for social-networking sites as part of its annual spring marketing campaign and collaborating with hip fashion label Diesel in time for New York Fashion week.

As part of its overall “Celebrate Originality,” global brand message, beginning this week, Adidas will begin to debut four original films on popular online sites Facebook and YouTube. The first is about the company’s founder, Adi Dassler, and chronicles how his shoe evolved from a sports shoe to popular everyday footwear. Adidas will also host a community page on Facebook with a variety of information and applications.

While the marketing spending is undisclosed, it is believed to be “the biggest” campaign the company has done in its 49-year history. “There are two key pillars to the campaign,” said Hermann Deininger, chief marketing officer of the adidas sport style division. “One is retail and the second is digital.” Adidas will reformat some of its 80 worldwide stores into an “atelier” concept, allowing visitors to design their own shoes and send pictures and videos to a large wall within the store.

On another front, Adidas is pairing with Italian jeans maker Diesel to create four styles of jeans called “adidas Originals Denim by Diesel.” The line, which includes two men’s and two women’s jeans in four different washes, was shown at Fashion Week in New York on Sunday. The jeans will be available exclusively at adidas stores and retail for $160 to $210. This is Adidas’ first foray into completely non-sports product segment.

John Shanley, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, said the campaign fits in with a trend of merging fashion and athletics trends. “I think it makes a lot of sense,” he said. “Casualwear is where most of the business is done (in the athletic sector). Technical or performance products are a relatively small part of the overall market.”

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