NEW YORK (By
Maria Dolgetta/ Iconix
Brand Group/ www.iconixbrand.com) - In celebration of its 25th birthday this fall, Candie's will be rolling out a new, "
Vintage" advertising campaign featuring rock legend, Pat Benatar and rock princess and MTV star, Cheyenne Kimball. The iconic female rocker and fresh-faced rock princess will appear together in a television and print advertising campaign to launch a special collection of Vintage Candie's apparel, footwear and accessories which will be available exclusively at Kohl's stores nationwide in mid-July. This is the first endorsement deal for both artists. The print campaign will break in
September issues of fashion and entertainment magazines and the television commercial will debut in mid-July on national and cable networks.
The concept behind the Vintage campaign was to bring together an iconic 80's rocker with a new fresh face on the music scene. Pat represents the early 80's (Candie's was "born" in 1981), where Cheyenne represents the new Candie's, (she was born in 1990) and these two artists combined represent Candie's like no other can. The dynamics of these artists together captures the true meaning of Candie's ... fun, flirty and irreverent. The two stars share some MTV common ground, Pat Benatar's video, "You Better Run" was the second music video ever played on MTV in 1981, and today, Cheyenne has her own reality show on the famous music network.
Enthusiastic about commenting on her first ever endorsement deal, Pat Benatar reminisced about wearing Candie's, "I remember wearing Candie's when I was younger, everyone loved the shoes and clothes and I really liked the component of bringing music into the campaign. We are two female vocalists, one just starting out and one that has been around forever," laughed Benatar. "I liked the concept of bridging the age gap for the Vintage collection, it's a great idea."
Commenting on working with Pat Benatar, Cheyenne added, "It was crazy! I was like 'Wow' what an amazing opportunity to work with her, I mean she is Pat Benatar! And I love the song, 'Heartbreaker' and I think it's so cool. Candie's is turning 25 and I love their new Vintage collection which is inspired by the 80's. I love all the stuff!"
The creative for the Vintage television campaign features Pat on stage singing her hit song, "Heartbreaker" and Cheyenne joins her midway through the song and they rock out together! The print campaign will reflect the same creative and both ladies are wearing Vintage Candie's apparel and accessories. On another synergistic note, Candie's is launching a fragrance this fall, called "Heartbreaker."
Neil Cole, CEO, Iconix added, "Pairing these two stars together is an innovative idea that powerfully demonstrates the broad reach and appeal of the Candie's brand. With 25 years of exciting fashion and advertising, Candie's is a rare brand that transcends any particular demographic and appeals to women of Pat Benatar's generation as well as today's teens that admire Cheyenne. Candie's has a rich heritage of supporting free spirited female rockers and we are proud to call both Pat and Cheyenne the newest 'Candie's Girls'. Having a campaign like this is ideal for our exclusive partnership with Kohl's Department Stores."
Kevin Mansell, Kohl's President stated, "We are extremely pleased with customer response to the Candie's brand. We are confident that the uniqueness of the latest celebrity-driven marketing program, combined with great fashion, category expansions and in-store graphics will continue to resonate with young shoppers and further differentiate and position Kohl's as a back-to-school destination."
Commenting on the choice of celebrities to appear in the campaign, Dari Marder, Creative Director, Iconix, stated, "We could not think of a better way to celebrate our 25th birthday than with a special limited edition of Vintage Candie's and using these two fabulous musicians. Pat is an icon of the 80's, she won a Grammy for best female vocalist in 1980 for 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' and Cheyenne is all over MTV with her new reality show, 'Cheyenne' and her album debuts tomorrow. She is going to be a huge star. As we launch our Heartbreaker fragrance, our hope is that women everywhere will be singing along with Pat and Cheyenne to Pat's classic hit song."
Over the years, celebrities that have worn Candie's include: Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston, Ashlee Simpson, Carmen Electra, Alyssa Milano, Courtney Cox, Jewel, Kelly Clarkson, and many others.
The campaign was shot by Moshe Brakha at The Lot Studios in West Hollywood and created by the Iconix in-house marketing team. Cheyenne will make several public appearances on behalf of the brand. The Vintage Candie's collections of apparel, footwear, outerwear and accessories will be available exclusively at Kohl's stores nationwide in mid July. In the coming months, Pat and Cheyenne will be integrated into Kohl's Fall marketing plan. vPat Benatar kicked off a national summer tour in June and Cheyenne's debut album, "The Day Has Come" will be in stores on July 11th.
