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Content Marketing at Sperry: Repositioning an Iconic Brand to Target ‘Intrepid’ Millennials
EXCERPTS
TARGETING MILLENNIALS
Sperry’s target demographic was between Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) and millennials (born between 1980 and 2000). EcommerceRecruiter.com’s Harry Joiner, explained, “What that means for Sperry Top-Sider is that growing its online business will involve bringing to life the brand’s affluent, preppy, East Coast chic personality across multiple devices (smartphones, tablets, desktop), through multiple channels (SEO, SEM, mobile, PLAs, etc.) in ways that resonate with its youthful clientele.”.The evolution of digital devices like tablets, smartphones, and social channels (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) had made it essential for brands to understand the trends among millennials. The brands had to be promoted in such a way that they made a huge impact on the target customers. Marketers were feeling more pressure to stay relevant to the customer trends, and this was especially true when they were looking to reach millennials |
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"ODYSSEYS AWAIT"
The details of the “Odysseys Await” campaign were published in the media and a commercial was made featuring the adventurous outlook of Sperry users (Follow YouTube link here-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ht5em9WajY). The offer was open to legal residents of the 50 US states and District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and legal Canadian residents who were eighteen years of age or older at the time of entry or had attained the age of majority in their state of residence...
THE REACTIONS
The “Odysseys Await” campaign received mixed reactions from analysts. Some of them opined that the shoe was meant for elite youth or millennials and not for everyone. They pointed out that the Sperry Top-sider was a boat shoe and not everyone would spend that much on a shoe just for boating, or any money on boating at all. Michael G Gillett, who worked at New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation, said, “This campaign is kitschy and fun, however it does “not” make me want to buy something (Sperry)...
THE ROAD AHEAD
Sperry’s effort at brand repositioning to target millennials was done through the “Odysseys Await” campaign which had an adventure-oriented theme executed in social media. Sperry made efforts to involve the youth by offering them a chance to explore different places and asking them to document their experiences.
EXHIBITS
Exhibit I : Images from “Odysseys Await” Campaign
Exhibit II : Images of Sperry’s Old and New Logos
Exhibit III : Key Financials of Wolverine Worldwide
Exhibit IV : Five Ways to Target Millennials
