One of the most important sources of inspiration for the brand, which is shaped by the dichotomy of tradition and innovation and blends industrial design with traditional handcraftsmanship in shoe production, is of course the Mediterranean.
Founded in 1975 by Lorenzo Fluxá on the Spanish island of Majorca, Camper is a brand that has managed to make a name for itself worldwide, continuing the tradition of shoemaking for four generations since its inception.
One of the most important sources of inspiration for the brand, which is shaped by the dichotomy of tradition and innovation and blends industrial design with traditional handcraftsmanship in shoe production, is of course the Mediterranean.
From village to city: a short brief history of the Camper
The Spanish island of Majorca has a good place in leather craftsmanship, and Camper's founder, Antonio Fluxá, brought the mechanization knowledge and experience he acquired from England, where the industrial revolution took place, to Spain, especially to Inca on the island, and established the brand's first infrastructure.
Lorenzo Fluxá, who took over the production facility from his father Antonio in the 1970s and represents the second generation, observed the social changes of the period well and renewed the brand in accordance with the dynamics of the new generation, evolving the product design, and the change combined simplicity with products suitable for city life with the theme of from village to city.
As of 2025, the fourth generation will manage Camper, and the brand maintains its production techniques while also investing in digital technologies. The development of more than 500 prototypes each season at the company's design center in Inca on the island of Majorca is an indication of the importance Camper attaches to creativity.
In fact, the collaborations made with other brands in the art and fashion world between 2014 and 2019, when Romain Kremer was the brand's creative director, are an indication of Camper's innovative approach.
Understanding Camper's corporate identity
Corporate identity is no longer just a logo and color palette these days, but also represents a strong integrity that reflects the values the brand wants to maintain, its cultural stance and its responsibility in society. Camper supports this understanding not only with its visual identity, but also with its way of doing business and its sources of inspiration.
A Little Better, Never Perfect is the motto adopted by Camper and this summarizes the brand's understanding of environmental responsibility. All operational steps, from sourcing recycled rubber materials used in the shoe production process, especially the soles of the shoes, to optimizing the carbon footprint that occurs during production and logistics, are constantly being improved.
Investment in solar systems to supply the energy needed for use in various units of the headquarters in Majorca is another concrete and first-stage example of the brand's strategy of responsible production and use of local resources in production.
The Mediterranean is a wonderful geography that inspires many people on many scales, a unique ecosystem, and what would be strange is if Camper, born on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, did not take inspiration from the Mediterranean.
When you pick up a Camper product, what you encounter is a minimal design and a design that is shaped and adapted to the needs of city life. Natural cork soles and cotton materials, which are frequently used in the models, are special elements both to provide comfort and to emphasize ecological sensitivity.
The brand's mission in many processes from the supply chain to after-sales customer relations is to delight people with a fun, sustainable and responsible walking experience. Adopting fair trade principles, supporting local, and not employing child labor at any stage of production are the main details that form the basis of the ethical systems created by the brand.
More than a retail store: Cultural encounter spaces
When you examine it in terms of marketing vision, you will see that Camper's shoe stores are different from the traditional retail approach that has become widespread.
The first of the stores developed with the concept of cultural encounter spaces was opened in Barcelona in 1981, and while opening new stores, the collaboration with the local, which is also included in the brand's vision, was emphasized in the interior designs and collaborations were made with local artists living in the region. There are many special and remarkable Camper stores designed with this perspective around the world.
Especially after the global pandemic that affected the world in 2019, we witnessed the change and transformation of e-commerce. Easy return and exchange operations became as necessary as providing an easy purchasing experience, and the Try at home service that Camper integrated into its online sales store is an important component in the effort to integrate both physical shopping and digital ordering experiences.
This is the opportunity to try on the products you purchased in your own place and return them if you do not like them or if they are not suitable, which many local retailers offer these days. While some brands only manage this from a single center, integrated with cargo companies, some also offer returns and exchanges from physical stores.
The rise of silent videos in digital marketing
With over 2.5 billion monthly active users today, YouTube is one of the most effective digital marketing platforms for brands. In order to reach their target audiences in the right way, brands on YouTube not only participate in integrated advertising networks with YouTube, but also publish native commercials from their own accounts, produce content only for this medium, and actively use the services.
Camper is one of these, and as a brand with minimalist design, functional, and sustainability-focused products, it adopts a simple and silent approach in YouTube ads. In short, these ads are what caught my attention when I came across them and pushed me to research the brand more.
"Silence in digital marketing" is not a very new behavior for consumers. Since the 2010s, people watch advertising videos with the sound off their devices, especially with the increase in mobile device use, in a large portion of video-based ads.
Camper's silent ad format, which was developed by anticipating this trend, offers a strong visual narrative to viewers of the ads instead of interaction with sound and focuses on the power of visuals.
Taking a quick look at the types of ads YouTube currently offers, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Camper frequently uses skippable video ads and bumper ads.
6-second bumper ads in particular are quite compatible with the brand’s minimalist narrative style. Considering people’s increasingly shorter attention spans, this ad length seems ideal for ad content that visually focuses on the product – for now.
What is seen in a short commercial prepared for Camper’s spring collection, which will be launched in 2025, is basically circular and repetitive images of pastel-colored shoes shown in slow motion in a silent environment, in front of natural light and a plain background.
Here, it is possible to get an idea about the shoes’ standing positions while standing and walking, as well as the designs of the shoes and the materials used in their production.
The absence of sound in the ad helps viewers pay more attention to the details in the visual, while the pastel colors of the products evoke calmness and peace in the human brain. The minimal narrative used in the advertising language technically supports a faster and easier perception of the message Camper wants to convey.
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The silent advertising strategy adopted by Camper in its YouTube ads can be considered an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of digital marketing. This marketing approach, which is also compatible with the corporate identity built by the brand, can be defined as an innovative and global communication model that focuses on consumer experience.
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