Shinola launches a new brand campaign about taking back control of your time.
Developed with creative agency GentleForces, it introduces the "On Shinola Time" platform, which frames time pressure as a real tension.
It also revives the Runwell, the watch that the lifestyle brand first released in 2013.
The campaign opens with "The Restaurant," the directorial debut of "Succession" actor Nicholas Braun, who also stars in the ad.
GentleForces Creative Practice Lead Quba Tuakli co-directed, and Brian Karlsson shot the campaign photography.
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In the brand film, Braun's character talks through his anxiety and rushed decisions before deciding to take control.
"I think we’re entering a really exciting new chapter for Shinola," Shinola Creative Director Jonathan Bailey told DesignRush.
"It starts with a simple belief: time is the most valuable thing we have, and the brands we need today should help us make the most of it."
The campaign gives Shinola a full brand platform and an emotional territory it can extend across the whole business.
The Runwell Sets the Pace Again
The Runwell launched Shinola's watch business, so the platform starts there.
It was the brand's first watch, released in 2013 as a limited run of 2,500 pieces.
Shinola still calls it "the watch that set our pace," which fits the campaign's "Set the Pace" message.
Bailey shared that the team revisited early Shinola work to recapture its wit, confidence, and point of view for today's audience.
"There was no better place to start than the Runwell," Bailey explained.
"It's the watch that built Shinola and still says everything about who we are."
Anchoring a new platform to an origin product gives the brand strategy instant credibility, since customers already trust what started it all.
A Thriller About Time
"The Restaurant" makes time the source of the conflict.
Braun's character sits at dinner, anxious and rushed, unable to meet the expectations pressing on him.
He admits how much the pressure is getting to him, then declares he is done living by someone else's rules and takes charge.
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The reveal reframes it as an "important conversation" with time, closing on a casual check-in that releases the tension.
Long lenses, tight production design, a ticking soundtrack, and choreographed background action make an ordinary date-night feel unsettled.
Braun played it as a character study, and Tuakli co-directed to keep the brand idea in frame.
GentleForces Founder and CEO Danni Mohammed said the campaign is the agency's first move into the U.S. market.
"An excellent brief and partnership led us to define Shinola’s new brand platform: On Shinola Time," Mohammed told DesignRush.
Shinola's Runwell relaunch offers three useful takeaways:
- Make the abstract idea visible. The film turns time pressure into a character-level conflict.
- Let craft carry the emotion. Sound, pacing, lenses, and performance make the message feel physical.
- Use talent for interpretation. Braun’s role gives the campaign a character-led point of view.
An abstract product benefit sells harder once it evokes a feeling that people are familiar with, which is the real job of emotional advertising.
Our Take: Can Shinola Sell Slow in a Rushed World?
Telling people in a rush to slow down is a tough sell, since the ones who need it most have the least patience to hear it.
We think Shinola can pull it off, as long as the Runwell makes glancing at the time feel calm instead of stressful.
The appetite is already there, since the vinyl and film-camera comeback has people paying extra for slow, analog things, the same pull a watch has.
The platform pays off more when the patience reaches the customer experience, in how a store feels, and how a repair gets handled.
A watch is the one product that can deliver the promise, since owning your time starts the moment you check it on your wrist.
Shinola joins other brands giving a plain message a director's touch.
Grubhub did it in its Super Bowl spot, where Yorgos Lanthimos filmed a delivery-fee pitch with George Clooney.
Looking to turn a product story into a larger brand platform? Explore these top creative agencies in our directory.
