Shinola Puts Succession’s Nicholas Braun Behind the Camera for a Meditation on Time

Mosa-Basha added that the brand wanted to play a larger role in culture as a modern American design brand.

“This campaign isn’t centered around product features, a deep dive into craftsmanship, or our manufacturing process — it’s centered around a feeling,” Mosa-Basha said.

Owning time 

Wary of falling into the typical advertising tropes whereby watch brands talk about luxury or utility, GentleForces creative practice lead Quba Tuakli told ADWEEK that society’s everyday relationship with time was a far more powerful psychological hook.

“We all know the mundane horror of stacked commitments or the joyless reality of optimized schedules. We’ve all experienced the freedom of time being the furthest thing from your mind. These are the feelings we wanted to trigger,” Tuakli said. “The premise of a date was how we disarmed the earnestness and grounded the commentary in a humorous, real-life situation we can all relate to.”

While originally booked to star in the ad, Braun wasn’t interested in simply appearing in the campaign.

“He had a genuine curiosity about the story we were trying to tell and strong instincts about how it should come to life on screen… it became clear that his perspective as a filmmaker and storyteller could add something unique to the project,” Tuakli said.

Brand partners 

For U.K.-based GentleForces, the campaign represents a major client win and a statement of intent in the U.S. market.

“This is a real honor and shows the benefit of an outside-in perspective, bringing in GentleForces as a partner based in London to land an American icon out in the world,” said founder and CEO Danni Mohammed.

GentleForces is tasked with strategically and creatively defining the brand over the next year and determining how Shinola can contribute to culture. The next chapter of the campaign will follow in the fall, “in a similar vein but with a more playful spirit,” Mohammed added.