Fashion's old guard aim to generate youth appeal.(with new ad campaigns)(Brief Article)

Edgy ad campaigns could make classic brands less desirable

To borrow a turn of phrase from fashion parlance, it seems that "old" is the new "new".

Burberry, Aquascutum, Pringle, Mulberry, Jaeger, Hackett, Macintosh, Moss Bros, Alfred Dunhill and now Thomas Pink are all busy shedding their fuddy-duddy images in an attempt to reinvent themselves as vibrant, relevant, modern brands.

Media schedules now centre on titles such as Dazed & Confused or FHM, while the target audience is no longer the middle-class Home Counties lady or the middle-aged City gent, but the fashion-conscious 25- to 34-year-old.

Advertising is the obvious route for communicating this new approach and each of these traditional British brands has launched cutting-edge campaigns in an attempt to throw off the baggage of (in many cases) a centuries-old heritage.

The shirt-maker Thomas Pink's advertising is the latest and most extreme attempt to make a mark, employing the services of two former Kray gang henchmen in a campaign designed to attract a younger, more streetwise customer (Campaign, last week).

Thomas Pink's official line is that, the hardmen have been chosen because they provide an effective contrast with the softness of the new 1701 range of shirts. But the campaign, which is described by M&C Saatchi as "geezer chic", is clearly a blatant attempt to tap into the Lock Stock-type exaltation of the gangster way of life, and thus appeal to a younger audience.