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Kendall Jenner plays every version of herself in Beats' new customisable headphone campaign
Key Takeaways
Beats has launched Beats 360, over-ear headphones with interchangeable, customisable ear cushions.
Kendall Jenner plays several versions of herself, from gym-goer to barista, in the launch film.
The campaign, created by Uncommon Creative Studio and directed by Ariel Fisher, runs under the line "One headphone. Every version of you."
Beats 360 went on sale at apple.com on 22 September, arriving in stores on 24 September.
From early-morning gym sessions and coffee runs to work calls and evenings spent switching off, most of us move between several different versions of ourselves throughout the day, and our accessories tend to change along with us. For its latest product launch, Beats has taken that familiar idea and turned it into a playful new campaign starring Kendall Jenner, who takes on every role in a film celebrating the launch of the brand's customisable Beats 360 headphones.
Created by Uncommon Creative Studio and directed by Ariel Fisher through Magna Studios, the campaign sees Jenner appear as a gym-goer, a barista, someone chatting on the phone and a reader, with each character sporting a different combination of headphones and interchangeable ear cushions. The result is a slightly surreal world where Kendall is quite literally everywhere, with the campaign's central message, "One headphone. Every version of you", bringing the different personalities together.
Kendall Jenner takes on every role in Beats' new campaign
The campaign introduces Beats 360, a new pair of over-ear headphones designed to give customers more freedom to customise their appearance and comfort depending on how they plan to use them. Available in black, cloud, pink and sky, the headphones feature interchangeable ear cushions, including six colours of Performance Knit cushions designed for exercise and UltraPlush options in black and cloud for everyday wear.
Rather than relying on a traditional product demonstration to explain the different combinations, Beats has built the entire creative concept around Jenner's ability to transform into different characters, with each scene introducing another version of the model and another way to wear the headphones.
Set to Gary Numan and Tubeway Army's 1979 track Are 'Friends' Electric?, the film brings together fashion, music and a slightly offbeat sense of humour, giving the campaign a distinctive personality while keeping the product's customisable design at the centre of the story.
The launch is supported by availability on apple.com from 22 September, followed by wider retail availability from 24 September.
What makes this campaign particularly clever is how Beats has taken a relatively simple product feature and built an entire creative concept around it, using Kendall Jenner's different personalities to show how the headphones can fit into almost any part of someone's day. There's no need for a lengthy explanation of the interchangeable cushions or a demonstration of how they work, because the different versions of Kendall do that for the audience, making the product's versatility immediately understandable while giving people something entertaining to watch. The interchangeable cushions are the reason the different versions of Kendall exist in the first place, and by keeping the same recognisable face throughout the film, Beats makes the changing styles much easier to notice.
There's also a wider consumer behaviour that Beats is tapping into here, particularly the way headphones have become as much of a fashion accessory as a piece of technology. Over-ear headphones are now regularly incorporated into street-style looks, gym outfits and everyday fashion content, so giving customers the ability to change their appearance without buying an entirely new pair feels like a natural extension of how people are already using them.
It's a similar creative approach to Subway casting Will Arnett as five versions of America's inner voice, where one recognisable celebrity takes on several personalities to communicate a broader message, with the humour coming from watching the same person interact with different versions of themselves.
If you enjoy discovering the creative thinking behind campaigns like these, we share our favourite PR campaigns, brand collaborations and marketing ideas every Monday in The PR Insider newsletter, alongside the stories and trends we think are worth keeping an eye on.
SOURCES
[1] PR Newswire
[2] Ad Week
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