Creating the MY WAY collection with Jolly & Jolly.
Meet JOLLY & JOLLY, the agency with who we collaborated on our latest campaign for the MY WAY collection. We had a little chat afterwards….
Two sisters named Jolly, two great minds. That’s what we were told about you. Tell us who you are exactly?
Beatrice: "Well, we're JOLLY&JOLLY, an Amsterdam based brand agency. We're sisters. Hesther is the strategic brain, I'm the creative one. We always like to joke that we've teamed up since 1984."
How did you get involved with Gray Label?
Hesther: "Of course we knew Gray Label as a Dutch brand. We loved it from the beginning. Their sustainable efforts, their ideas about kids’ fashion and their collections: one can recognize a Gray Label piece from 10 meters distance. Apparently Emily had heard about us. One day she invited us for a serious talk about her brand strategy. It felt like we had a click instantly.”
How did you create this campaign, I mean, what does such a creative process involve?
Beatrice: "We always start with the philosophy of the brand. We had some really inspiring conversations with Emily about her reasons behind the label. Next to her passion for sustainability, we were triggered by her ideas about kids. To her it comes natural to give a child the space it needs to develop its own identity. But we said: 'No. This is rare. You should push this.' And that's what we did with the MY WAY campaign."
Can you explain that?
Hesther: "Emily's designs are minimal. Unlike other children's fashion labels, she wants to give kids the possibility to explore their own identity. No prints, no boy/girl stigmatizing, the collection is mostly unisex. We did the same when we shot the campaign: we just let the kids be."
Where you surprised with the results?
Beatrice: "No. Not surprised. But touched? Yes. The kids were wonderful. We teamed up with Anne Dokter, an amazing fashion photographer. We didn't ask the kids to pose or put on fake smiles. Whatever mood they were in was welcome. That's a powerful message to a kid: you're beautiful, even when you don't smile. It's exactly what Gray Label stands for: you're perfect the way you are. The result is a series of honest portraits of pure, authentic kids. What you see is what you get."
What was it like to work with kids?
Beatrice: "Wonderful. Kids are so real. They either like something or they don't. They don't feel the urge to put on a mask. Adults can learn a lot from kids."
We love working with kids too J. It sounds like Jolly & Jolly is mainly triggered by what a brand stands for. Am I correct?
Hesther: "Yes, but that doesn’t cover it all. We're on a mission to challenge companies to use their power to contribute to the lives of consumers. Advertising is such a powerful tool, why not use it to make people happier? We're here to inspire that change."
