Clothes have a point of view in Klarna’s colourful inclusivity campaign.

The Swedish payment brand tapped start-up agency Motel for the campaign and partnered with stylist Tan France.

Klarna, the Swedish online payment brand, has continued to grow its marketing presence during the pandemic (in the summer, it launched its first major US campaign, playing on its Swedish origins.)  

Now it's out with a colorful new fashion-focused campaign in the U.K., in which the idea is that clothes have a point of view, particularly when it comes to inclusivity. Klarna partnered with designer and TV stylist Tan France ("Queer Eye") on the campaign, whose message revolves around highlighting the problems of prejudice and discrimination within the fashion industry and encouraging consumers to view fashion from the eyes of the clothes themselves. The tagline, "clothes love all," is designed to indicate that clothes judge no-one.  

The campaign includes a colorful and quirky video in which clothes come to life and start singing to their owners, as well as social ads and gifs in partnership wtih fashion merchants that use Klarna, like ASOS, Chimi and Sophia Webster. These feature "quotes" from clothing, such as a pair of trainers saying "We're up for anyone tying the knot" or pants saying: "Pants judge no-one. Be more like pants."  

The work is by Motel, a U.K. startup agency that opened its doors this week, founded by former McCann executive creative director Lee Tan and and chief client officer Rob Smith. The duo have over 20 years of experience at agencies including Ogilvy, Farm, Mother, KesselsKramer and TBWA, working on brands such as Coke, Harley-Davidson, Tango, Pot Noodle and Xbox.  

"An inclusive fashion project was the ideal first brief for us," says Neda Shedanlou, creative director at Motel. "Of course there's been a lot of talk about fashion and diversity, so it would have been easy and comfortable just to add to that noise. We knew a new angle was needed. So we thought it was time to hear what the clothes had to say."  

"We're incredibly excited to be one of Motel's founding client partners," added AJ Coyne, head of marketing at Klarna U.K., in a statement. "This year has been shit for most, but the energy and passion from this group to turn that into something positive has been remarkable. We brought Motel on board because they reject the traditional agency models and are helping propel the Klarna brand in the U.K., with disruptive work and a touch of garage."  

The film is directed by Jake Dypka of Agile Films, and launches in the U.K. initially, with potential for a roll-out to other markets.


October 31, 2020