Background

Bench is the Philippine’s leading retail brand. It’s popular, trendy, and always in style. So when it came to launching its newest line of pomade products, the brand was challenged with its young market’s perception of pomade being old-fashioned and outdated.

Describe the strategy

Bench’s target market is made up of young adults who are into current and fleeting trends. Because of this, they tend to easily buy things known for being trendy or “in” especially when being sported by influencers online. With Bench Barbers Pomade being perceived as “outdated” and “out of style”, we decided to embrace “NowStalgia” by making something old new again. To do this, we recreated classic matinee idol looks but this time sported by the popular stars of today. These dreamy sepia-toned visuals were then posted online to stand out on a feed of glossy, trendy, influencer aesthetic.

Describe the execution

Bench brought back the dashing, dapper, and classic style of Filipino matinee idols and made the old new again for the young generation. We chose unforgettable leading men from the golden age of Philippine cinema, namely “The Great Profile” Leopoldo Salcedo, “King of the Dance Floor” Nestor de Villa, and “King of Philippine Movies” Fernando Poe Jr. With permission from their families, we recreated their classic style with the leading men of today. To give their pomade-slicked looks a proper homage, research was done to make sure the clothing, photography, and pomade method of styling hair was faithful to the way it was back then. We then created YouTube hairdo tutorials inspired by old movie productions–giving audiences a trip back in time with vintage-style treatment and sound.

List the results

Sales for Bench Barbers Pomade went up by 17% while the campaign was also picked up by several publications including Adobo Magazine, Manila Bulletin, Preview Magazine, and more. A testament on how pomade never goes out of style.