Textiles used for Advertising Campaign
It seems as if we are constantly surrounded by advertising, from your Facebook page to turning on the radio. The media seems so saturated with ads that at times they all seem to blur into one, which is why the ‘Lovingly Crafted,’ campaign caught my attention.
It’s rare to see textiles and indeed any craft used in a commercial capacity so when I was flicking through Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie,’ magazine and saw an image of embroidered Kettle Chips by Louise Gardiner, it made an impression. In the following issue there was a woven interpretation by Stella Harding so I decided to investigate this genius campaign. This led me to London Advertising firm 101 and an interview with Creatives Tim Donald and Misha Newby to find out more.
The ‘Lovingly Crafted,’ campaign has been in running in the UK since 2012 and the concept originated to match the hand-made quality of the product (Kettle Chips use real ingredients and are cooked by hand). “The more we saw, the more we realised that for Kettle it’s not just about producing chips to sell, they treat it like a craft,” says Tim. “It’s full of love, so we came up with the line, ‘Lovingly Crafted.”
The campaign has featured ceramics, wood and glass, although obviously for Textile Curator it’s the textiles that resonate the most. 101 knew the crafts they wanted to showcase so looked for good artists in each genre. Louise Gardiner gave Kettle Chips her machine embroidered and painted touch, while basketry weaver Stella Harding brought woven texture to the page. “We asked everyone to do work which was full of love and would showcase their craft at its best,” explains Misha. “There were obvious things, like making sure the product would be clearly legible in an advert. Beyond that it was a pretty open brief, and a really collaborative process with everyone.”
Interestingly, the campaign delivered growth double the market rate, substantiating Tim and Misha’s view that “there’s a huge trend now for things which have a bit more love in them.” If you’ve missed the ads don’t worry as there are a few more coming out this year. With their parting words being “It’s been a pleasure to see people so passionate about creating something special and offer them a platform to showcase their talents to a broader audience,” hopefully textiles will continue to appear more frequently in the media.
Many thanks to 101 – www.101london.co.uk
