Case Study
Downgrade Now
Celebrating Alternative Choices
Client
Back Market
Is it Cool?
You Bet!
Back Market’s global “Downgrade Now” campaign establishes refurbished tech as a clever, confident choice: smart, stylish, and sustainable.
Snapshot
A global campaign only works in Japan if the idea is repositioned, not just the words translated.
Client: Back Market · What it is: Japan adaptation of the global “Downgrade Now” brand campaign · Scope: full-funnel — messaging, OOH, digital, and platform assets · Constraint: stay inside the global brand guidelines · Outcome: locally resonant campaign that kept the global playfulness intact.
This campaign was so much fun to work on!!
RH member who uses lots of Refurbished Goods
The business situation
Back Market’s “Downgrade Now” celebrates refurbished tech as the clever, confident choice. But “downgrade” reads differently in a market where refurbished still carries stigma, and where trust signals matter more than irony. A straight translation would have landed flat — or worse, confirmed the stigma the campaign was built to break.
This is the core Brand Operations problem in market adaptation: how do you change enough for the message to land locally, while governing every touchpoint so the brand stays recognizably itself? We rebuilt the campaign end to end for Japan, fine-tuning each asset against the global system rather than around it.
Let’s bring your vision to life
Alex Scott is your first conversation. Tell him the challenge your are facing in and he’ll help you figure out what it actually needs, whether that’s a project, a retainer, or simply a pointer in the right direction.
Alex Scott
Your first point of contact
Contact us
Case Study
Downgrade Now
Celebrating Alternative Choices
Client
Back Market
Is it Cool?
You Bet!
Back Market’s global “Downgrade Now” campaign establishes refurbished tech as a clever, confident choice: smart, stylish, and sustainable.
Snapshot
A global campaign only works in Japan if the idea is repositioned, not just the words translated.
Client: Back Market · What it is: Japan adaptation of the global “Downgrade Now” brand campaign · Scope: full-funnel — messaging, OOH, digital, and platform assets · Constraint: stay inside the global brand guidelines · Outcome: locally resonant campaign that kept the global playfulness intact.
This campaign was so much fun to work on!!
RH member who uses lots of Refurbished Goods
The business situation
Back Market’s “Downgrade Now” celebrates refurbished tech as the clever, confident choice. But “downgrade” reads differently in a market where refurbished still carries stigma, and where trust signals matter more than irony. A straight translation would have landed flat — or worse, confirmed the stigma the campaign was built to break.
This is the core Brand Operations problem in market adaptation: how do you change enough for the message to land locally, while governing every touchpoint so the brand stays recognizably itself? We rebuilt the campaign end to end for Japan, fine-tuning each asset against the global system rather than around it.
Let’s bring your vision to life
Alex Scott is your first conversation. Tell him the challenge your are facing in and he’ll help you figure out what it actually needs, whether that’s a project, a retainer, or simply a pointer in the right direction.
Alex Scott
Your first point of contact
Contact us