Shinola recruits 'Succession' star Braun for first brand campaign

The result is a 60-second piece that Mosa-Basha said some people have described as a "psychological thriller." It opens in a hectic restaurant setting with a soundtrack made of a watch tick accelerating. Braun delivers an emotional monologue that initially sounds like a relationship ultimatum before it becomes clear he is speaking to the Runwell, which does not appear until the final seconds.

"I would say 90% of the discussions we had with [GentleForces] were more about meaning, before the actual visuals of it all," Mosa-Basha said. "We wanted to communicate this message that your time belongs to you. It doesn't belong to anyone else. It doesn't even belong to a watch. It really belongs to the person behind it all, and the watch is just a representation of that."

Founded in 2011, Shinola has never run a full-funnel brand campaign before now. The decision to launch one came after the arrival of new creative director Jonathan Bailey, a veteran of Coach and Tiffany. The goal is to bring awareness to the brand outside of watch enthusiasts, position Shinola as culturally relevant and lean into human-first storytelling, Mosa-Basha said.

"We wanted to make sure this is going to be designed to tell a story across editorial, retail, PR, influencer partnerships, paid media, organic and social," she said. "It was less about adapting to different channels, but really designing all of this content for them from the beginning."

That strategy spreads Shinola's marketing budget across upper, mid and lower funnel tactics. Reimagining the campaign for different channels is more than just cropping and resizing creative, Mosa-Basha said. It has to be integrated from the start.

"When your storytelling is on lock and working really well, then your performance marketing is going to go a long way," she said.