Responses by Rens de Jonge and Maartje Slijpen, creative directors, KesselsKramer.
Background: STABILO is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of writing instruments. To stay relevant for a younger, more digital audience without losing their widespread fanbase, STABILO needed a new positioning campaign to unify all communication for the coming years.
Design thinking: Keyboards, filters, AI and other digital tools are often used to achieve “perfection” as quickly as possible. However, in doing so, people miss an essential step: the process of learning and developing their own unique style through hands-on practice with pen and paper. The campaign Start Beginning shows that the beginning is not only the most important part of that development, it’s also the most interesting. On a blank page, everything is still possible, and you’re allowed to make as many mistakes as you can.
Challenges: People use pens and pencils for just about everything—school, career, science, drawing and writing. The challenge was to inspire people to pursue their aspirations—no matter how big or small—but still keep the message simple. We wanted to encourage people to overcome insecurities, stop procrastinating and start drawing, writing that book or postcard or whatever it is they want to do.
Favorite details: Start Beginning champions analog creativity by featuring beginners from all over the world who kickstart new projects, from an enthusiastic child to a great established artist. We asked each of these beginners to create something with some words of the Start Beginning manifesto. That’s why each scene and every artwork shown in the campaign is self made.
Specific project demands: The campaign has aired worldwide, with each country following its own media plan. We developed a modular approach: every scene in the main brand film acts as a standalone building block, each carrying its own message. By rearranging and reconnecting these blocks, we were able to create hundreds of assets, giving local marketing teams the flexibility to choose what fits their audience best.
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