overview
Luxury giant 'Printemps' (French for springtime) chose March 2025 for their aptly-timed NYC arrival—but needed the New York attitude to match. As their AOR, we centered on a bold statement that defined their identity through contrast–the driving force behind our citywide multichannel takeover.
Say: Campaigns & Media
Art Direction & Copy
Photo, Video & Motion
Media Strategy & Planning
Creative Strategy
Be: Branding & Consulting
Visual & Verbal Identity
Do: Products & Experiences
Cultural Programming
Challenge
Our challenge was twofold: a focused investment for their American debut and a brand whose French legacy, while impressive, needed translation for New York audiences. How do you make a 158-year-old Parisian institution speak fluent New Yorker from day one?
Solution
"NOT A DEPARTMENT STORE" said everything we needed to say. Because let's be honest, New York doesn't need another retail behemoth—and this campaign wasn't just about what Printemps isn't—it's about everything they actually are.
We kept production street-smart—shot on iPhone with nimble, guerrilla tactics baked in. It all started with graffiti icon Stash tagging One Wall Street under cover of darkness. As NYFW kicked off, a fleet of (not yellow but) green cabs hit the streets, wrapped in our “NOT A DEPARTMENT STORE” message—turning Manhattan traffic into a moving media network. A D/OOH takeover of SoHo, wheat pastings, CGI animations, creator films, and new website assets brought it all together—creating a French debut that didn’t get lost in translation. We continued and maintain all eyes on Printemps through different activations throughout the year. By tapping into our rich creative network, we co-created with NYC-based voices who gave the Skims x Roberto Cavalli collab cultural weight and social reach where it mattered.
