Buscemi
The Brand
Hyper-luxury footwear line Buscemi creeped through the back door of the fashion world in 2013 with a rare product that left sneaker heads jaw-dropped and madly covetous. Based in Los Angeles, inspired by New York street style, and ushered into existence by the hands of the finest European craftsman, the brand makes extreme high-end footwear and leather goods beloved by iconoclasts of taste, from Quincy Jones to Lauren Hutton and Kanye West.
The Task
When we began working with Buscemi in 2014, the company needed a strong brand voice strategy to match its stunning imagery and outsize luxury products. Our goal was to construct an exciting verbal personality that could quickly convey a sense of urban adventure and the promise of an exclusively excellent shopping opportunity. The tone would be adaptable to many situations and platforms, including a brand book, eCommerce copy and ongoing omni-channel content.
The Execution
Beginning with brand book copy, we created an elegantly arrogant lexicon that reflects the oxymoronic nature of the company—high fashion products inspired by low culture. The central feature of the Buscemi brand voice strategy is the recurring adverb-adjective coupling of two words with conflicting meaning, e.g. "Obnoxiously Elegant." The oxymoron motif occurs throughout Buscemi touch points, from social, to marketing emails and print materials.
A comprehensive style guide keeps the parameters of communication pointed and powerful, always highlighting the brand's conceptual tension between high fashion and street culture. Rules include using terse sentences to impart confidence and juxtaposing modern street slang with traditional luxury terms.
The Buscemi brand voice strategy trickles down into a plethora of collaborations with the company, from ongoing email marketing and social content, to editorial features and eCommerce copy.
Projects
Editorial
Buscemi's exalted "Chamber" blog includes frequent updates about the brand's design collaborations, film commissions and iconic ambassadors. The tone stays elevated and epic, while touting the brand's interactions with culture-makers of all media and many generations.
Social
Every Buscemi release is an uproar, be it a new color way, unexpected embellishment technique or inspired brand collaboration. Each release cycle includes thoughtfully forceful copy for Facebook and Instagram, always befitting the grandeur of the product itself.
A cult brand at heart, Buscemi stays in constant contact with its global clutch of die-hard fans. Marketing emails tout new releases, web features and product edits using the same powerful set of voice rules we assigned the brand from the start. Every email from the company is a unique opportunity to share in the highly emotional lifestyle fantasy the products promise.
eCommerce
Since authentic Buscemi leather goods are only available through select retailers or directly from the company itself, the eCommerce experience is paramount. We provide detailed product copy that thoroughly justifies the price point without over-explaining or losing the on-brand attitude. The cooly confident tone carries over into the check-out process and transactional emails, so that every touchpoint is an elevated moment.