Growing up in Maine, I was familiar with the L.L.Bean Book Pack: distinctive in its bold colors, ubiquitous in every grade, and nearly impossible to wear out. In 2022 I was lucky enough to be one of the lead copywriters for L.L.Bean’s Back to School campaign. Working from customer insights with a talented team of creatives, we came up with a campaign built around customer stories and the pack’s undisputed toughness: “The Only Pack They’ll Ever Need.”
Campaign Toolkit
I was one of the lead copywriters in the creation of our creative campaign toolkit: a one-stop shop for our creative and marketing departments describing the campaign sentiment and goals, and providing a suite of copy and design elements to be used across channels and platforms.
Broadcast
Our broadcast ad was based on a customer story from our archives. It was a joy to dig into this story and turn it into a script that combined the joy and whimsy of childhood with hard-selling proof points demonstrating the durability of our backpacks, resulting in our ad “Dear L.L.Bean” (:30/:15/:06).
Digital Advertising
In digital banner ads, native ads and paid social, we brought in playful elements from our broadcast ad, along with product photography to show the packs’ toughness. We also leveraged customer quotes and reviews to continue the overarching theme of sharing customer stories.
Social Media
Social is the perfect platform for gathering and amplifying real stories from real people, so we continued the campaign across our social channels with a focus on those stories and customer images – including the behind-the-scenes story about our broadcast ad. With the hashtag #DearLLBean, we fostered a sense of community and gathered more stories to share in this and future campaigns.
Jake Christie 