Setting itself apart from ad campaigns consisting of “big headline fashion photographers and celebrities” is as integral to Ted Baker as its smart dresses and quirky styling. And the fashion brand, well-known for its unorthodox take on marketing, is continuing that charge with the launch of a new comedy sitcom.

The retailer’s Spring/Summer campaign builds on last year’s Mission Impeccable push, which saw Ted Baker vocalise its content ambitions and launch a cinematic, shoppable film for its campaign. In a similar vein, the brand has created a comedy sitcom named ‘Keeping up with the Bakers’, that will play episodically over Instagram Stories over an eight-day period.

The sitcom tells the story of the Baker family who appear to be the picture of suburban utopia, yet beneath the airs and graces the family aren’t quite what they seem.

Ted Baker’s social channels have also been “taken over” by the Bakers story, encouraging followers to finish off gossip stories started by nosy neighbours through getting involved in the fictional world of the Bakers and completing daily challenges.

To complement the sitcom, Ted Baker is rolling out a 360° shoppable film hosted on TedBaker.com, UK partner ASOS.com and Nordstrom.com in the US. Customers will be able to poke around the Baker family home, reveal hidden content and purchase the latest collection as worn by the characters. Additonally, a 360° non-shoppable film will be available to view through Google Cardboard.

Speaking to The Drum, Craig Smith brand communication director at Ted Baker, explained how it is using last year’s Mission Impeccable campaign as a ‘blueprint’ for future campaigns, and how the brand’s creative freedom allows it create content that set it apart from its competitors.

“What we have recognised very quickly is that the translation of film into the different levels of campaign across the various channels is more powerful than the still imagery,” he said. “Both are important to the overall cohesiveness of the campaign, but the engagement and the traffic driving in the moving content pieces is much higher.

“If you look back on our 29 years, the one thing that we have always done consistently well is move the actual brand aesthetic on season by season and we have tried to be quite brave throughout those 29 years. We are an ideas led and very creative business at our core… A lot of brands default to big headline fashion photographers and celebrities or models as almost their endorsement and we have never wanted to go down that route, so by default we have had to find a different approach which sits against the DNA of our brand.”

To do this, Ted Baker takes a holistic “season on season narrative”, that takes a completely different feel each time and gives the brand more freedom creatively.

“It means we don’t have to play that game. We don’t want to pigeonhole our brand with this is the celebrity for this season or the photographic maestro for this season we like the fact that it is all about Ted and from Ted,” added Smith.

Ted Baker worked with digital agency Poke to create the virtual neighbourhood through its Instagram channel, while photographersCrown & Owls created the digital look book. Happy Finish and Wirewax created the 360 shoppable film experience and Nexus Studios’ Interactive Arts Division created an interactive window at select Ted Baker locations.

Via The Drum