The Campaign

Make Love not Wall is a truly global statement. It just needs to be brought to life in a locally relevant way. So, why do we humans build walls anyways? Most people believe it's for protection. For their own safety. In Japan however, the daily grind, other peoples ideas and loneliness put invisible walls between people that do not protect but rather divide them. It's these invisible walls that really suck for the young generation in Japan. Hence the local Make Love Not Walls campaign did highlight this problems first of all. To then encourage people to break though the invisible walls by giving love a chance to fight.

Creative Execution

The video did drive the brand into the local culture by putting a spotlight on the walls keeping people apart in Japan. Invisible walls such as Overworking, Prejudice and Loneliness. Shot on local location with local cast. Shown across social media outlets and as digital ads. Then the campaign was brought to real life in Shibuya, Tokyo, where DIESEL participated in Japans largest Event in support of the diversity. The Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade. The brand walked the talk and marched for a better future alongside hundreds of enthusiastic participants. Instead of just asking people to purchase DIESEL rather did offer Badges and T-Shirts for free to turn style into a statement to Make Love not Walls - and to turn buyers into lovers.

1. Driving the brand into the local culture • SS17 Movie Views: 8.403.090 (incl. online ads) • Total Reach: 6.174.743 (via Facebook & Instagram ads) • Local Movie Views: 1.034.925 (YouTube & online ads) 2. Walk the Talk • Influencer activation: 1.167.911 reach (24 people, 41 posts) 3. Turning Buyers into Lovers • Badges Distributed: 160.000 • New Sign Ups on diesel.co.jp: 5.601 • In-store Lottery Promotion sign ups: 17.685

With it's global advertising campaign 'Make Love Not Walls' DIESEL had been keen on making a statement against prejudice towards minorities and nationalistic sentiments in the light of recent US american government plans to build a wall along the Mexican-American boarder executed by David La Chapelle. For young Japanese people however the cast, the set and the issues highlighted came across as foreign and distant. To overcome the distance but gain strong local relevance for the campaign idea, we created the relevance, the culture insights, emptiness through overwork, depression through loneliness, and prejudice against LGBTQ. Creativity that builds on strong cultural insights can turn international commercials into immersive executions that deliver true relevance for local consumers. Gaining ultimate credibility and activating behavioral change of young ad-literate people however requires to walk the talk and become an actively supporting part of the community. Love brands do walk the talk.