Introducing a new generation to the Barbour way of life
As lead creative partner for almost a decade, we’ve helped shape Barbour’s strategic and creative direction – delivering powerful brand, content and social campaigns, and strengthening their relationship with key retail partners.
The Challenge
Barbour is a heritage brand with a deeply consistent aesthetic. It is connected to a countryside way of life built over generations. Our challenge was to recontextualise that heritage and legacy in a way that was relevant to today’s fast-fashion, social-first generation.
The Creative Focus Model in action:
To make the Barbour way of life relevant and compelling in today’s world, we knew we needed to change the body language of the brand without losing its long-held values.
Informed by our Performance intelligence in social, we found that the call of the wild, the urge to get outdoors, the appreciation for the countryside, was still just as strong as it ever was. It just showed up a little differently: People’s love of the outdoors is a deep interest in social channels; and many get their outdoor fix through the little screen.
Strategy: Tap into people’s love for the outdoors through social entertainment.
Creative idea: The Barbour way of life.
Authentic, entertaining and native content for Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. This was pure brand storytelling, balancing the other side of the marketing plan, which is all about partnership and driving news.
A social-first documentary series that celebrated people living the Barbour way of life – those with a pro-nature attitude and an appreciation for countryside and craftsmanship. This format allowed us to show an eclectic mix of characters.
Each shoot was designed as a single production moment, delivering a hero long-form film alongside a bank of channel-specific organic assets optimised for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. This approach ensured every story was amplified across platforms in a way that felt native and engaging, while also building a growing library of authentic Barbour stories.
The result
The series has become Barbour’s best-ever performing social content, driving new conversations and cut-through across platforms, particularly impressive for fully organic content with no marketing spend behind it.
Watch the full series here
Client Testimonial
GAIN is an agency for today. They don’t think like an agency of the past, they understand that agencies have had to evolve. They are a great group of talented people. They really are an invaluable partner and their contribution to our brand’s growth has been instrumental.
Leanne Forster, Global Head of Brand, Barbour
