The holidays are around the corner and Allbirds, the trendy shoe startup, is winging in with a new campaign. In its largest marketing effort to date, the direct-to-consumer brand is pushing "Meet Your Shoes," with quirky new spots that will air on digital and in cinema and an interactive website that taps into fashion trends of sustainability and transparency. The push will run through the holidays.
"We hear all the time how much our customers love that our materials come from nature, so the campaign celebrates this idea in a lighthearted way," says Julie Channing, chief marketing officer at Allbirds.
She adds that "green" fashion and footwear have long had a reputation as being overly expensive and unattractive. "We're seeing that start to change, with a growing movement of consumers who care about buying more sustainably made and sourced products without compromise."
The work, which was created with Anomaly Los Angeles, comes on the heels of a marketing campaign last March with Portland agency Opinionated. That campaign, also quirky, sought to evoke visceral feelings of comfort and coziness associated with wearing the Allbirds brand. Channing notes that the brand is growing at "lightning speed" and that the new relationship with Anomaly is meant to help continue that growth.
The new campaign showcases how Allbirds makes it possible for consumers to actually "meet their shoes." Like the farm-to-table movement, the retail industry is also undergoing a transformation as more consumers advocate for true retail transparency in the supply chain from brands.
One of Allbirds spots shows a man, mid-haircut, "overcome by a strange desire," to meet the sheep whose wool went into his shoes. Another spot shows a woman who leaves her dental appointment to find the creator of her "tree sneakers," made with eucalyptus. "Allbirds tree runners…breezy runners, made from trees," a voiceover in the spot says.
Josh Fell, chief creative officer at Anomaly Los Angeles, says that the campaign treats Allbirds customers in an intelligent way without filling in "every gap" or explaining "every joke." "Treat them with respect and they'll respect you," he says.
Just a few years old, the San Francisco-based Allbirds is already becoming something of a challenger brand to established footwear heavyweights. The company recently attracted $50 million in its latest round of venture funding, bringing its total to more than $77 million, according to Crunchbase. CB Insights cited it in a recent report on the growing attraction of the wellness and athleisure market for investors. Ao far in 2018, there have been $3.8 billion raised across 310 deals within the wellness tech space, which includes healthy food and beverage brands, nutrition apps and sports nutrition products and fitness-focused lifestyle brands, a spokeswoman says.
