Create Next

The future will be shaped by people who are young now. It’s a tale as old as time. What we knew and used as a foothold is they are not operating in a vacuum, they’re fueled forward by those who opened doors before them. They move, not aimlessly up, byt where inspiration points them next. They break down the pre-existing barriers that exist in culture, sport and innovation to construct new possibilities.

All of that was table stakes. We knew now is the time to think bigger. We dove deep with the Converse target consumer—a group we dubbed the Gamechangers. We listed close and we worked with them to learn the best way to elevate their voices and tell their stories. The plan was to collaborate with those who will build the future to create next in style, innovation and purpose. Oh, limits, you ask? What are those?

Creating Next meant moving forward together.

Young people are doing what young people do: changing the game. In Converse parlance we had previously dubbed that ‘sparking progress’—but when the world is changing rapidly you have to rethink our approach no matter who you are. As young people refocused inward on personal growth to be better able to then look outward and lift up their communities over the long-term, we had to rethink how we Converse could serve and connect with them.

We planned out a three year narrative that allowed Converse to drive consistency for the brand, with chapters that it can tailor to movements, moments and the brand’s broader product direction even as it shifts on the fly.

We first rolled out Create Next by collaborating with Tyler the Creator to define its meaning in a crystal clear way. That was followed by celebrating All Stars—influential creators Converse targeted who are driving the pulse of culture—and aligned each one with key product and purpose stories accordingly. Serving up an opportunity for the brand to engage with the audience in a meaningful shared moment transformed into an active conversation with consumers on how they are creating the new normal—the next.

We created a powerful brand narrative and brand identity system to scale the concept of create next .

That’s the sentiment and the purpose, but none of it could stand on its own without a robust narrative, visual system and identity. And we could only build all of that effectively on what we had learned and what direction we had set. The merging of thought with the explosion of purposeful visual creativity set a game-changing course for Converse for years.