With more than 123 years of history, the Mikimoto name has become synonymous with cultured pearls and the brand's luxurious pearl strands. As a timeless staple in jewelry boxes around the world, the pearl strand has built up a number of associations around it as well as the women that wear them.
WIth "Explore the Original," Rokkan was tasked with celebrating the Mikimoto Woman while also presenting an evolving vision of what she could also be in order to appeal to younger audiences and those that might have thought of pearls as being to stiff and traditional. To examine the difference between owning and being a treasure.
The "Explore The Original" campaign is comprised of four films, all produced by Rokkan, including three 15-second films set in New York, Paris and Tokyo, and one long-form film that ties all three locations together. In these films, we learn that the Mikimoto Woman is surprisingly different from who we expect a pearl wearer to be—there's no cashmere twinset in sight. But just like she doesn't conform to expectations, she doesn't wear her pearls in the traditional way. She showcases the striking Mikimoto clasp and opts to stand out from the rest of the crowd.
To reach a decidedly younger digitally native audience, these films were shared via paid social placements on Instagram and Facebook, with the Rokkan media team also handling paid placements on behalf of the brand.
With a fairly modest overall project budget and a touch of PR support to supplement organic pickup, "Explore the Original" performed well above internal expectations and was named by The Drum as US Creative Work of the Week shortly after launch.
