When Aje founder, Adrian Norris, approached us to work on the launch of his new brand, IKKARI, the brief wasn't solely to capture a new range of wellness and lifestyle products, but to tell the story of a different approach to life.

The narrative of slow, considered living is nothing new, but the IKKARI story was compelling. The brand name takes inspiration from the rugged, mountainous Greek island of Ikaria, a Blue Zone of ancient traditions and natural wisdom. Adrian fell in love with it while battling exhaustion, chronic fatigue, insomnia and burnout. A reset ensued. We wanted to tell this story of returning to nature and unplugging while creating a layered, buildable and immediately recognisable brand image, leveraging rational, emotional and aspirational angles while delivering a campaign with an artistic voice. Clear, thoughtful, generous and engaging, authentic and human, considerate and inspiring: the tone of voice of IKKARI, translated in a way that is nevertheless bold, ambitious and captivating.

The launch was divided into a three-tiered content system, beginning with this campaign, which centred on producing timeless assets to bring the brand narratives to life across digital, print, in-store, OOH, and social. The goal was to make people fall in love with the brand and the story first, and with this approach to life, and introduce the product immediately after through still-life, alongside intimate, human stories.

The campaign is anchored by its location, the Daintree — a UNESCO World Heritage site, the world's oldest rainforest and one of Sir David Attenborough's favourite places on earth. We chose the Daintree because it's a particularly special landscape in Australia. Magnetic and mystical, the rainforest's backdrop creates a believable, arresting and vivid narrative: you can imagine this as a place to get lost in, a place where you fell back in love with nature. The story follows a day when time stood still, seen through the IKKARI tagline, ‘Your Higher Self’.

The connection to the vivid greenery mirrors IKKARI’s branding while touching on grounding rituals; modern science and ancient wisdom converge to create a new way of living and offer alternative views of beauty and wellness. The open skies and crystal-clear waters instil a sense of calm and invite the viewer to imagine, while establishing a subliminal feeling of connection to the Blue Zones. The island inspiration behind the IKKARI brand world is translated through a colour palette of ocean blue, Ikkarian yellow, and Ikkarian green — sand and skin, olive greens, foliage, and water.

The cast was chosen to amplify the story and approach different target audiences: Dija Kallon, an internationally-renowned fashion talent (the face of Prada, Gucci, Zara, Charlotte Tilbury, H&M Beauty) with a stellar personality and enviable joy of living, Mei Zhang, an up-and-coming talent with a quieter, mesmerising gaze, and Mikey Tam, a model and actor who embodies wellness.

The campaign delivered a series of polished hero images, a candid documentary-style stills series, three 60-second hero videos, 30 and 15sec cutdowns and platform-appropriate TikTok content, all communicating IKKARI’s core categories and pillars:

1. INNER (ingestibles) is conveyed through moments that relate to the solo body, the mind, things that grow and activities that promote peace, rest and reset. Morning rituals. 

2. OUTER (topicals) is conveyed through moments that relate to the body, how it relates to others, and to nature. This is visible through a sense of tactility. Emotional, human, evocative, nostalgic; rituals that happen throughout the day.

3. AURA (scent) is conveyed through peaceful solitude or searching. The visuals become more abstract, rooted in repeating patterns found in nature and the body, as well as a sense of lightness or grounding. The feeling of a mood-enhancing or wind-down ritual (late afternoon/evening, night, very early morning). Things that can only be perceived: feelings of equilibrium, healing and spirituality.
   
   Campaign creative direction, strategy, casting: Bruna Volpi
   
   Photography: Jake Terrey
   Photography team: Ryan Flanagan, Nick Shaw, Luke Shuetrumpf
   Film: Claudia Rose
   Motion AC: Ari Kwasner-Catsi
   Music: Jake Terrey and Claudia Rose
   Hair and Make-up: Daren Borthwick
   Talent: Dija Kallon, Mei Zhang, Mikey Tam
   Production: The Artist Group