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The Sims Store
Brand: The Sims | Role: Creative Director
Photographer: Jenna Gang
ACD, Art: Jonathan Richardson
Creative Lead, Copy: Anne Lacy
When we launched The Sims first ever official merch line (yes, first ever in over two decades!) we needed to nail the landing. We didn’t just want to launch merch that Simmers would feel at home in, we wanted to market it in a way that felt like a celebration the community we’d made it for.
For The Sims community, uncool has been cool since our game's inception in 2000. Simmers are the cool kids and always have been. So we created merch, marketing, and a store experience that delivers on that IYKYK factor—and builds excitement by encouraging speculation.
Feat the community, for the community
We worked with vibrant and whimsical photographer Jenna Gang to create humorous shots for launch that highlighted the diverse lives and identities of the real Simmers we cast. We wanted to celebrate the people our players are beyond the game—encouraging them to tout their Simmer status like a badge, and build community wherever they go.
It’s cool to be uncool
Since we were launching via our owned social channels, we took a decidedly social approach to marketing the launch. Our concept was a Sims-y take on cool kids modeling cool merch: We traded the too-polished “fashionfluencer” standards for relatable, authentic slice-of-life shots that celebrate those unfiltered human moments: an unfortunate sunburn, an ill-timed spill, a dusting of cheesy goodness all over your new Sims sweatshirt.
To “tease” the launch, we used closer cropped shots that focused on the human moment while obscuring the merch, and then revealed the whole monochromatic scene (and the merch in all it’s glory) for launch day. Needless to say: we sold out.
