Coats Composites

Coats have long been recognised as global leaders in yarn and thread, but wanted to position themselves in the world of composites.

As a long-established market leader in yarn, Coats wanted to build awareness of their expertise in composites and drive consideration across four verticals: automotive, telecommunications, energy and footwear.

Coats understood their key differentiators: performance, sustainability, the potential for customisation, and the ability to innovate. They came to WMP Creative to develop a global campaign that would bring out their USPs and compel existing and new customers to consider Coats for their composites needs.

A campaign strategy inspired by the surprising properties of natural materials and how they are channeled into sustainable composites through science.

In our research, we discovered how Coats create composites specifically to perform in the most demanding environments – whether that’s over land in telecommunications cables or on the road in ultra-lightweight vehicles. Coats composites also come from surprising sources, like basalt in footwear. So we used the concept of using natural materials as an inspiration for modern composites, landing on the strapline “Let nature challenge. We let it inspire.”

We then developed a design language linking the alchemic science in Coats’ products and flowed that into film, print, social and exhibition materials. We selected iconic examples of strength, flexibility and lightness in nature – and used these as a springboard for campaign graphics and film. Using CGI in the hero film, we were able probe into the depth of materials, providing a direct link to the power of design in Coats composites.

The campaign was rolled out globally, with the film translated and narrated into six languages.