Lacoste: Unexpected Encounters
Lacoste tasked BETC Paris with modernizing its image for its 90th anniversary. The brand needed to move beyond its preppy tennis roots to appeal to a younger, urban audience without alienating loyal older customers. They sought a global campaign celebrating the crocodile's universal appeal and its ability to unite diverse communities and generations through a single, iconic garment.
Creative Idea
Strangers of different ages shared a joyful moment after realizing they wore identical Lacoste polos.
Lacoste celebrated its 90th anniversary by depicting spontaneous, unexpected encounters between diverse strangers wearing the same iconic polo, proving that the brand's timeless style bridges generational and cultural divides through a shared sense of belonging and mutual respect.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A 90-year heritage of creating high-quality apparel that maintains a consistent, iconic visual identity across decades.
Category
Fashion brands often target narrow age demographics, creating silos between youth culture and traditional luxury heritage.
Customer
Consumers want to feel unique yet belong to a community that values timeless style over fleeting, age-specific trends.
Culture
The rise of cross-generational fashion where Gen Z adopts vintage styles while older generations embrace vibrant, modern colors.
Company
A 90-year heritage of creating high-quality apparel that maintains a consistent, iconic visual identity across decades.
Category
Fashion brands often target narrow age demographics, creating silos between youth culture and traditional luxury heritage.
Strategy:
Use shared aesthetic markers to transform accidental similarities into moments of cross-generational social connection.
Customer
Consumers want to feel unique yet belong to a community that values timeless style over fleeting, age-specific trends.
Culture
The rise of cross-generational fashion where Gen Z adopts vintage styles while older generations embrace vibrant, modern colors.
Strategy:
Use shared aesthetic markers to transform accidental similarities into moments of cross-generational social connection.
Strategy Technique
Lean Into Nostalgia
"Lean Into Nostalgia" works because the 90th-anniversary campaign leverages Lacoste's enduring legacy - the polo shirt - to evoke warm feelings of familiarity and connection across generations. These unexpected encounters highlight the brand's timeless appeal, fostering a sense of shared history and belonging.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Connect Generations
The film features a young man and an elderly woman discovering they are wearing identical pink polos. This visual twinning highlights how the brand's heritage remains relevant across vastly different age groups.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign excels through its vibrant art direction and precise casting, creating a wordless narrative that feels both modern and timeless.
The meticulous coordination of the yellow stalls, pink polos, and blue sky creates a striking, high-fashion visual language.
The chemistry between the two actors is conveyed entirely through facial expressions, making the 'encounter' feel authentic and heartwarming.
The synergy between the rhythmic music and the visual 'reveal' of the matching outfits creates a satisfying comedic beat.
Crossing the Gap from Hamptons to Streetwear
The Sound of Cultural Hybridization
The campaign’s sonic identity is anchored by The Sugarhill Gang’s "Apache." Chosen for its unique blend of instrumental rock, country, and hip - hop, the track serves as a musical metaphor for Lacoste’s cross - generational appeal. This "cultural hybridization" mirrors the visual narrative, where the brand’s 90 - year heritage meets modern urban subcultures.
Street Casting and Documentary Realism
To ensure the "encounters" felt authentic, director Laure Atanasyan and photographer Ronan Gallagher avoided professional models for the primary vignettes. Gallagher utilized a documentary approach to capture spontaneous eye contact and genuine smiles. A standout moment, "I Go for a Lacoste Polo," features Marga (an older woman) and Anis (a young man) who were cast specifically for their natural chemistry when discovering they were wearing the same pink polo on a beach.
From Tokyo Collectors to Lacosteiros
The strategy successfully "democratized" the crocodile, moving it from a "tennis brand" to a "community brand." It specifically leaned into niche subcultures, such as the Lacosteiros in Brazil - a funk and trap community that trades vintage pieces - and high - fashion collectors in Tokyo. This shift was validated by massive digital engagement in Asia, where the hashtag #CrocodileLandsInAnaya reached 130 million views on Weibo.
The Socks and Slides Faux Pas
In a bold move for a luxury house, the campaign embraced the polarizing "socks and slides" trend. By featuring two strangers acknowledging this specific fashion choice, the brand turned a traditional "fashion faux pas" into a moment of shared identity. This self - aware humor helped bridge the gap between "Hamptons preppy" and "urban streetwear" audiences.
