Nordstrom: An Open Mind Is The Best Look
Nordstrom tasked Droga5 New York with evolving their brand from a traditional department store into a modern, culturally resonant fashion authority. They needed to move beyond product-focused advertising to build a deeper emotional connection with a diverse, younger audience. The goal was to launch a new brand platform that felt inclusive and human, coinciding with their major expansion into the New York City market.
Creative Idea
Used an improvised theater rehearsal to frame diverse, real-life moments as high-fashion performances.
Nordstrom shifted from product-centric ads to a cinematic celebration of human connection, using an improvised theater rehearsal voiceover and street-cast individuals to prove that true style comes from an open, empathetic perspective rather than just the clothes themselves.
The Script That Was Scrapped For A Theater Teacher
A Masterclass in Happy Accidents
The campaign's most defining feature - the poetic, Dickens-inspired voiceover - was never part of the original plan. During the shoot, a theater instructor cast as an extra began improvising lines. Director Martin de Thurah and the Droga5 team found her performance so arresting that they discarded the pre-written script entirely, rebuilding the film’s rhythm around her spontaneous delivery. This "oblique" storytelling style was a deliberate move to reject the "haughty elitism" of luxury retail, opting instead for a democratic narrative where the viewer fills in the gaps.
Street Casting and Yorkie Haircuts
To ground the film in reality, the production bypassed professional models for street-cast talent. The vignettes featured a diverse array of "real" people, including a sign-language interpreter, a teen karate expert, and a man with eight Yorkshire terriers in a baby stroller. In a humorous production hurdle, the "dog man" - spotted near Columbus Circle - refused to film until he could take his pets home for a bath, insisting they needed their own version of "hair and makeup" before their close-up.
High Stakes at the Oscars
Nordstrom chose a high-pressure debut, launching the 120-second "epic" spot during the 2019 Academy Awards red carpet. The strategy was to treat the commercial as entertainment rather than an interruption, a move that paid off when the campaign out-performed its KPIs and was later inducted into the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) permanent archives. By focusing on "An Open Mind" rather than specific products, the brand successfully pivoted toward a younger, more inclusive audience during its critical New York City flagship expansion.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A high-end retailer with a reputation for service but a need to modernize its brand image for a broader audience.
Category
Fashion retail often relies on aspirational, elitist imagery and professional models that can feel cold, distant, and exclusionary.
Customer
Modern consumers value authenticity and inclusivity, seeking brands that reflect their diverse identities and celebrate real human experiences.
Culture
A growing cultural movement toward empathy and open-mindedness as the most valuable traits in an increasingly divided world.
Company
A high-end retailer with a reputation for service but a need to modernize its brand image for a broader audience.
Category
Fashion retail often relies on aspirational, elitist imagery and professional models that can feel cold, distant, and exclusionary.
Strategy:
Pivot from product-led aspiration to humanity-led inspiration to redefine luxury as an inclusive, empathetic mindset.
Customer
Modern consumers value authenticity and inclusivity, seeking brands that reflect their diverse identities and celebrate real human experiences.
Culture
A growing cultural movement toward empathy and open-mindedness as the most valuable traits in an increasingly divided world.
Strategy:
Pivot from product-led aspiration to humanity-led inspiration to redefine luxury as an inclusive, empathetic mindset.
Strategy Technique
Break a Category Convention
By rejecting the polished, elitist tropes of high-fashion advertising in favor of raw, improvised human moments, Nordstrom democratized luxury and positioned itself as an inclusive, culturally relevant brand for everyone.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Celebrate an Attitude
It moves away from selling specific garments to championing a mindset of curiosity and inclusivity, using diverse, street-cast individuals to embody the brand's belief that perspective is the ultimate fashion statement.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The ad's craft is elevated by its exceptional cinematography and art direction, which seamlessly blend everyday life with theatrical expression.
The use of diverse lighting and camera movements creates a visually stunning and emotionally resonant experience.
The fashion choices and set designs perfectly reflect the characters' inner journeys and the ad's overall message.
The combination of dynamic cinematography and bold art direction creates a powerful visual narrative that reinforces the brand's message.
