American Original Series

Campaign & Content

Fender

Vintage is modern. That was Fender’s creative strategy for the American Original Series, a new line of instruments inspired by the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Rather than rare reissues or replicas, these guitars and basses were made for people who want modern features, but appreciate classic design.

This was Fender’s biggest launch in electrics for the year, with a huge debut at NAMM. What we needed was the right way to tell that story, a campaign that connected the past to the present. At the same time, we wanted to elevate the aesthetic to differentiate Fender in the MI space and broaden the appeal of this iconic brand to a younger audience.

Sometimes things just click. On my drive home one night, the idea hit me. Nineteen Fifty-New. Nineteen Sixty-Next. Nineteen Seventy-Now. As soon as I walked in the door, I did a quick mockup. The look had to be timeless so that it worked across any era – black and white portraits and bold type, the instruments hung like pieces in an art gallery. Now, we just needed to develop the content.

I’d been wanting to make something with Will Mayer for a while and he happened to know some of the team at Fender. We ended up shooting a total of six artists between Los Angeles and London to create a hero piece and individual videos for each artist that explored the idea of originality from various perspectives.

When all the pieces came together, we had a tightly integrated campaign, from trade show to retail, print, to digital and social media. And it showed in the numbers, with high video views to completion and strong sell-through.

Director: Will Mayer
DP: Michael Stine (US) / Rupert Hornstein (UK)
Photographer: Dante Marshall