Campaign Trail: Journeys Breaks Back-to-School Marketing Conventions with Absurd Creativity
Journeys, in partnership with Anomaly, launches a new back-to-school campaign that interprets the brand proposition of 'living loudly' through absurd, musical visual language, aiming to attract Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers.
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Last year, footwear retailer Journeys launched its "Life on Loud" brand platform by reimagining the retro music video for New Radicals' 1998 hit "You Get What You Give." For this year's back-to-school campaign, the Genesco-owned retailer continued the music video narrative logic, creating a louder spot titled "Don't Just Show Up. Turn Up."
The 30-second hero video presents the first day of school with musical surrealism: students arrive by bus, speaker-equipped bikes, or on horseback; some have a personal DJ following them, others play a five-neck guitar, and one rides a keyboard. The lunch line serves sneakers, and one student's head is transformed in a claymation style.
The campaign was developed in collaboration with Anomaly, a Stagwell agency, which also crafted last year's brand platform. The video was directed by artist Max Siedentopf, with animation partner Slow Bureau handling hand-drawn effects. The campaign spans TV and social media, and includes three 15-second cutdowns, multiple 6-second clips tailored for short-form video platforms, and a social-first influencer collaboration.
Beyond aiming to be louder and more exaggerated than last year, "Don't Just Show Up. Turn Up" was also inspired by two sources: a fine art photograph blending medical and musical elements, and ablog post defending "brain rot". The article argues that the digital content favored by Gen Z and Gen Alpha is young people's response to an increasingly absurd reality.
"We're obviously making a back-to-school ad, so let's make one that embraces that absurd imagination—not by speaking Gen Z's language, not by explaining or mimicking memes, but by truly making it the creative backbone," explained Leanne Amann, group creative director at Anomaly.
Drawing inspiration from 90s music videos directed by Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham allowed the agency to convey brand DNA and connect with younger consumers without relying on other back-to-school marketing clichés.
"When people show up as their authentic selves, they're not compromising with the world—the world is compromising with them and their creativity. That became a great blank canvas for us to tap into our own childlike imagination," Amann said of the creative process. "Back-to-school can sometimes feel like the end of freedom, and we wanted it to feel like the beginning of freedom... not in a cheesy way, but with a sense of rebellion."
Fun on set translates to fun in the film
Although Anomaly had plenty of creative freedom, the team avoided being weird for the sake of weirdness and didn't want the production to feel chaotic, no matter how outlandish the ideas. This led to a creative partnership with Siedentopf—who has an installation art background and excels at hands-on world-building. Most of the effects in the final piece were achieved in-camera, with only a few hand-drawn effects evoking the claymation style of 90s MTV.
"We stuck to the principle of 'follow the fun.' The moment it felt like marketing, it felt wrong," Amann said. "The production process was fun, and I think when you enjoy making something, the work feels fun too. It doesn't feel forced, and it wasn't."
The team played a playlist of candidate soundtrack songs on set to create a relaxed atmosphere. The track ultimately chosen was "Ludvig Van" by UK DJ and producer Star Slinger, which received the best response. The bouncy electronic dance track samples Beethoven and the film "A Clockwork Orange," and its genre-defying nature aligns with Journeys' brand spirit.
"Other brands in the retail space have their ideal personas, but Journeys doesn't want to do that. We really want people to be themselves and express themselves freely," Amann said. The version of the track used in the ad also includes her voice.
This unbridled self-expression is also reflected in the brand ambassadors and creator partners appearing in the ad, including professional skateboarder Sky Brown, musician Inji, and actress Madison Bailey—who plays three distinct triplets in the video. The team deliberately chose people who don't mind looking silly, are willing to show themselves in playful ways, and experiment with personal style.
"Screening collaborators by that standard allowed us to find the right people from acting, music, and skateboarding who blend well together," Amann said. "It again echoes our rule of 'keeping it fun.' They had a great time on set."