Shinola's First Full-Funnel Push Builds a Story Around the Runwell

Shinola has introduced 'Set the Pace,' the Detroit-based design brand's first full-funnel brand campaign and the debut major advertising push for its Runwell watch since the company was founded in 2011. Created with agency GentleForces, the 60-second film stars Nicholas Braun, widely known as Cousin Greg on HBO's 'Succession,' and Braun also directed the project.

The spot deliberately steps away from the conventional luxury-watch playbook of close-ups on engineering, heritage and high-status imagery. Instead, a tense restaurant scene builds around an accelerating watch tick while Braun delivers what appears to be an emotional relationship ultimatum. The reveal at the end is that he has been speaking to the Runwell watch itself, reinforcing the campaign's central idea that time belongs to the person, not to the object.

Shinola's marketing director, Dana Mosa-Basha, said the brand sought a collaborator rather than a celebrity who would simply attach a name to the work. Braun proposed directing the campaign and was involved in script, styling, visual decisions and extras casting. The launch follows the arrival of Jonathan Bailey, a Coach and Tiffany veteran, as Shinola's creative director, and it is supported by a channel-native strategy covering editorial, retail, public relations, influencer partnerships, paid media, organic social and lower-funnel performance marketing.

Why Shinola Is Selling Personal Time Instead of Watch Craftsmanship

Shinola's White-Space Bet Against Traditional Watch Advertising

Mosa-Basha's description of Shinola as existing in 'a white space' is the strategic core. Most established watch brands lean on craftsmanship, heritage and luxury status; Shinola wants the Runwell to stand for control over personal time. That positioning is a cultural claim rather than a specification claim, and it fits a brand trying to reach people beyond watch enthusiasts. The timing also coincides with Jonathan Bailey's arrival from Coach and Tiffany, which suggests a deliberate move toward more polished, story-led brand marketing.

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Why Nicholas Braun Is More Than a Celebrity Face

Shinola's approach to Braun was unusual: not a paid ambassador role, but a creative partner. Braun proposed directing and then shaped script, visuals, styling and even extras casting. That depth of involvement reduces the standard celebrity-endorsement risk of feeling inauthentic, because the actor's sensibility is embedded in the work rather than layered on top. His 'Succession' persona is funny, human and slightly awkward, which maps onto the approachable tone Shinola says it wants. The unresolved question is whether viewers will connect Braun to Shinola itself or simply remember his character.

Why Channel-Native Design Changes the Marketing Structure

The campaign was built from the start for editorial, retail, PR, influencer content, paid media and social channels rather than being adapted after the fact. That is a structural difference from producing one hero film and then cropping it. It also explains the budget split across upper, mid and lower funnel tactics. The underlying logic is that if the story works consistently, performance marketing has stronger material to amplify. What remains unproven is whether an emotionally ambiguous spot will produce measurable lower-funnel demand, since Shinola has not shared early performance data.

What the Shinola/GentleForces Campaign Signals for Brand Marketers

  • For Shinola's brand team: use the campaign's first-party and channel data to test whether awareness grows among non-watch buyers, the audience the full-funnel push was designed to reach, rather than only existing enthusiasts.
  • For brand marketers considering celebrity involvement: Braun's directing role and pre-production input offer a specific alternative to a standard paid endorsement, reducing the risk that the talent feels disconnected from the creative.
  • For agency-client teams: replicate the Shinola/GentleForces approach by developing editorial, retail, PR, influencer and paid social formats at the start, not as post-production cutdowns.
  • For performance marketers: treat the 60-second psychological-thriller spot as an upper-funnel awareness asset and assess whether its storytelling gives mid- and lower-funnel messages stronger engagement than category-standard watch advertising.