France – Cognac company Louis XIII is travelling back to the origin of the earth with its latest campaign, Believe in Time. The short film, which stars the musician Solange as Mother Earth, pays tribute to the alcohol brand's 50-100-year ageing process, which it describes as 'thinking a century ahead'.
Exploring the concept of deep time, the campaign brings together original work by three women creatives: Chinese couturier Guo Pei, French-Senegalese film-maker Mati Diop and American musician Solange. In the film, Solange is dressed in a Guo Pei gown that took two years to make. The musical score, a hypnotic melody that includes strings, percussion and woodwind instruments, was composed by Solange, further highlighting the effort and craftsmanship that went into the commercial. Her voiceover emphasises the earth's origins some 13bn years ago, and how long some of the planet's most beautiful landscapes and human achievements have taken to come to life.
By creating an advert that explores the concept of time and unhurried processes, Louis XIII is drawing a parallel with the labour and artistry that goes into crafting its own cognac. In this way, the brand is aligning itself with the slower, more thoughtful techniques which we have previously monitored in Longevity Marketing.
Strategic opportunity
Brands can learn from Louis VIII by creating campaigns that anchor the values craftsmanship and quality to the time that certain skills, techniques or materials require to be considered luxury
