Sydney Harmon

Advertising / Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

School of Advertising

Plonk Wine Club
The wine industry is suffering from a “snobbery tax.” For years, legacy brands have marketed wine through a lens of gatekept expertise—terroir, tannins, and vintage years—creating a barrier of entry for the Millennial consumer. This audience enjoys premium products but feels alienated by the “homework” required to appreciate them. The big idea leans into the linguistic bridge between Millennials and the digital zeitgeist. Also, it transforms the brand into the “cool, confident friend” who knows the world of wine but doesn’t take it too seriously. By acknowledging Millennial culture with a nod and a wink, this campaign
establishes Plonk as a brand that is high-end enough to trust, but playful enough to party with, stripping away the pretension, leaving only the “hits.”

Allbirds
Gen Z doesn’t just buy products; they buy manifestos. However, the “sustainable fashion” space has become a sea of beige minimalism and passive eco-messaging that feels disconnected from the urgency of the climate crisis. For a brand like Allbirds, the challenge was to move past being a “sustainable choice” and become a radical badge of identity for a generation of eco-warriors who demand that their style reflects their environmental convictions. ‘Be Elemental’ strips away the corporate veneer to expose the raw, symbiotic bond between the wearer and the Earth. We moved away from the soft language of “eco-friendly” and leaned into the primal, by positioning the product as an extension of the natural world rather than a disruption of it. ‘Be Elemental’ transforms Allbirds from a footwear brand into a literal grounding
force—communicating that to wear the brand is to acknowledge the profound interdependence of all living beings.