The Drum visited the Edinburgh set with ad agency Calling to witness the filming of the French Wellington boot brand’s Christmas ad and learn why they chose a poem from the 1800s to give it a modern twist. How do you make a 100-year-old French Wellington boot brand relevant to a modern audience? That was the challenge facing London agency Calling when approached by Le Chameau earlier this year. Fortunately, Calling has plenty of experience in transforming heritage brands, having successfully revitalized names like Interflora and PG Tips.
Le Chameau, meaning “The Camel” in English, was originally designed as a boot for fishermen and outdoor workers. The product is designed to connect peope to the natural world according to Le Chameau, which claims to make the only Wellington boot made from sustainably sourced rubber. “The brief was to crack the brand open to new kind of, city dwelling, style-conscious audience,” explains Calling’s executive creative director and co-founder Josh Tenser.
“They'd noticed this started to happen organically in the past year or so. David Beckham started wearing them and Dave the rapper started wearing them.” The brand was eager to create a festive ad this year to connect with its new audience, and Tenser’s team proposed a concept that centers the film on a simple yet highly relatable tradition: the Christmas Day Walk.
“They were very much like, we know we've got a core audience, and we know that a new audience will enjoy us,” h.