Fashion Special: Lloyd&Co.

The creative behind Gucci’s controversial Mario Testino-shot pube-flashing campaign, and a client wrangler with a useful background in child psychology combine to make one of Manhattan’s most formidable advertising forces. Iain Blair meets the duo who keep up with fashion’s frenetic pace to sell with sense and sensibility… as well as sex

Since its very beginnings, 20 years ago, Manhattan-based creative agency Lloyd&Co. has been responsible for some of the most striking and provocative campaigns in the fashion business, including Gucci’s shockingly iconic spring 2003 print campaign (of which, more soon) as well as campaigns for brands ranging from Tom Ford and Bottega Veneta to Estée Lauder, adidas and Calvin Klein.

In the last two decades, founder and CD Doug Lloyd has been joined at the reins by strategic partner Jodi Sweetbaum, and the company has grown from a four-person shop to a 40-person, full-service agency that brings to life Lloyd’s original dream of an organisation that re-envisions the client/consumer relationship.

The agency has also generated plenty of headlines. With Tom Ford, then creative director at Gucci, and photographer Mario Testino, Lloyd created the in-your-face, extremely sexual – and controversial – Gucci print campaign featuring model Louise Pedersen with the letter ‘G’ shaved into her pubic hair. Lloyd’s work still exhibits plenty of edge in an era when fashion tends to lean more toward subtlety and romanticism than shock-and-awe.

“It was an interesting time, establishing new branding for them, and we did some very strong, impactful work,” Lloyd says of those early days. “And ever since then we’ve continued to work with various artists and photographers who would be considered to be outside the traditional realm of fashion advertising.”

Sweetbaum adds: “One of the things we’ve been super lucky with in the fashion world is that we’re working with creative leaders right away. So we have had opportunities to create work that really pushes traditional advertising.” She cites the company’s relationship with Bottega Veneta, noting that “There’s a lot more risk-taking involved, which is very exciting for us.”

Lloyd studied design and advertising in Pasadena and then moved to New York where he worked as a designer. He became increasingly involved in the fashion world, ending up as art director at designer department store Barneys, then as senior art director at the Gap in charge of Baby Gap, Gap Kids and Gap advertising. He was also creative director for magazine titles such as Mademoiselle, Arena Homme+, Muse Magazine and Big, and has won numerous awards from the likes of the Type Directors Club, American Photography and the Fragrance Foundation.

He met Sweetbaum in 1994 when she’d been involved for a while in the marketing and advertising of luxury brands, first as head of global creative services at Elizabeth Arden then as head of in-house advertising and design at Calvin Klein. Prior to that she’d been in a rather different field, having spent several years as a freelance producer of music videos, documentaries and commercials. “I actually started at MTV, back in the very early 80s,” she reports. “It was my very first job. This was before it was even on the air – I was just 19. I stayed in that world for quite some time.”

But she found herself naturally gravitating more and more toward fashion and beauty. “I loved it because in order to do well you always had to be ahead of the trend, as it moved so fast, and it was all about visual storytelling, which is always a great challenge.” 

A smart way in to a new market

As president and managing director of Lloyd&Co., Sweetbaum has been responsible for marketing and branding strategy for all agency clients since 1996. While running the business side of the company, she brings a brand-centric approach to the agency’s work across platforms, developing a strong, interactive dialogue between each client and the consumer.

Ask her about the company’s vision and mandate in the early years and she states that, “It was basically just to keep going every day. There was just the four of us and we were all moving as fast as we possibly could. But we also set out to create strong visual communications, because in the fashion world people need to look at things and want them right away. You’re not using a lot of words to tell a story, so the rule was, if it’s not totally captivating, then don’t put it out there.”  

Lloyd is excited about the work that they have done for new products. “We were there right at the start of the smartwater/vitaminwater revolution. We were thinking about how to position the brands as well as designing all the packaging and doing all the marketing, and then seeing how it all came to life. It was about building those strong, visual storytelling messages into the brands and collaborating with visionary designers and entrepreneurs who had the power to start something new. That [commission] was all through personal connections from when I was at Barneys.”

“They challenged us all the time,” says Sweetbaum, “which was great, and working directly with them was also great, even when someone didn’t think that fashion advertising was advertising, and I had to explain to them that we felt our job is much harder than advertising traditional packaged goods, as it’s constantly moving very quickly, and the consumer experience is everywhere, and we have a responsibility to keep that going. Imagine a new collection launching every four or six months. So part of the mandate was to make sure we could create brands that could work while they were moving so fast.”

In the past two decades fashion cycles and advertising has changed a lot, driven by the internet and emerging digital platforms. “That accessibility and availability to a far wider audience, especially in the luxury market, has been a huge, ongoing evolution,” Lloyd admits.

“And fashion brands can now expand outside the ready-to-wear market,” Sweetbaum notes. “They’re now moving into home, fragrance, into a lot of different categories, and it’s still our job to keep one brand’s vision, even if ready-to-wear might last six months while fragrance could last three years. That’s a challenge. Likewise, you have to be careful in this online age to make sure a brand doesn’t end up being known just for sales, because everyone sees the sale ads online, while the magazine ads are for these beautiful high-end products.”

Selling sex, soda, and secrets

Do shock tactics still work? “Sometimes,” Lloyd says. “There’s still that desire for something sensational. And sex – and sexiness – will always sell. But you have to make sure that whatever you’re doing you’re selling the story and the angle with a modern voice.”

In addition to their ongoing work with long-standing clients like Bottega Veneta, Lloyd&Co. recently launched integrated campaigns for the adidas Originals Pharrell Pink Beach collection, Mikimoto and PepsiCo. For Pepsi, the agency played a key role in their recent PepsiMoji campaign, with print ads by fashion photographer Ben Watts and fashion tie-ins with designer Jeremy Scott. This fall, they’ll also be breaking work for Narciso Rodriguez and other adidas Originals lines, “Plus some campaigns we can’t talk about yet,” says Lloyd. “It’s a very exciting time for us.”