AIRKNITx underwear has become Mack Weldon's signature product. After seeing significant growth in interest in natural fabrics, we decided to introduce an all-new cotton version of the original. I framed this launch as a major opportunity to drive brand awareness — given that underwear is where we've built our biggest brand equity. The biggest challenge from a brand perspective was finding a way to celebrate the arrival of AIRKNITx Cotton without diminishing the popularity of the original.
AIRKNITx's primary, most-loved benefit is breathability — which always had to be at the heart of the brief. We determined that throughout the customer experience it would be impossible to discuss AIRKNITx without referencing the original style, and potentially beneficial to reference both together. So we developed a product architecture rooted in the distinct benefits of each: the original is breathable by design, whereas the new Cotton version is breathable by nature. This anchored the creative brief in the product's most important and differentiated benefit: breathability derived from nature.
"Life can't pause for summer humidity."
Summer in New York can be the most uncomfortable time of year — high temperatures, sticky weather, and relentless humidity. But it's also the most sociable, and you don't want to put your plans on pause. Guys need every possible advantage to hold onto the feeling of comfort that Mack Weldon is determined to provide.
The unrelenting humidity of a New York summer prompts people to escape the city whenever possible — or otherwise clamor for respites of nature wherever they can find it: parks, beaches, a friend's leafy backyard. With its uniquely breathable construction and all-natural micro-mesh fabric, AIRKNITx Cotton is well-suited to keep guys cool. We demonstrate this by showing our protagonist suffering through the heat of a morning commute, before making a break for Central Park — where he can finally catch a breeze in his AIRKNITx Cotton Boxer Briefs.
Impact
