I've always been fascinated by how luxury brands communicate their identity in a highly-competitive marketplace. In particular, I enjoy watching how fashion designer Miuccia Prada continually distinguishes her company's brand identity by selling an experience rather than merely peddling products.

The only thing Miuccia Prada resists more than conformity is mass marketing. She famously told a London Times reporter that she despises advertising because it “requires mass banality.” So, when she decided to embark on her first televised ad campaign, she chose to create a singular film rather than a commonplace commercial.

Enlisting the talents of Blade Runner director, Sir Ridley Scott, and his daughter, Jordan, Prada created Thunder Perfect Mind, a cinematic ad that blurs the line between art and commerce.

The film features a young woman meandering through Berlin in cadence with an ancient poem set to a freeform jazz score. At key points in the film, coinciding with the poem, the young woman encounters herself in other female figures: the virgin, the mistress, the mother, the daughter.

The brand name, Prada, does not appear until the final seconds of the film. Even then, it is subtle, resting in the street like an afterthought.

Rather than resign herself to accepted advertising formulas, Prada invented something entirely new. The result is mesmerizing and memorable. This is not an advertisement, it is an experience. By drawing viewers into an evocative narrative that transcends the typical product-driven ad, Prada stands out in a saturated marketplace.



“In Prada we always like to have a different way with everything. We look to the trend and then ask how we could do it another way. That is the way to add value, so long as you do it intelligently.”