How Allbirds will step up marketing ahead of going public

Allbirds is all in on marketing. The sustainable footwear brand filed paperwork for its initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission today that mentions marketing more than 130 times. The documents noted a focus on growing awareness through marketing for the six-year-old company, which has been vocal about building its business around eco-friendly materials and environmental impact. “We are at a scale now where it is effective to broaden our marketing funnel from emphasizing direct, digital conversion marketing to a full-funnel approach that utilizes TV and other mediums,” read the roughly 250-page document, which noted that a recent TV campaign helped drive a “significant increase” in aided brand awareness from 8.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 10.9% in the first quarter of this year. As consumers continue to place more importance on sustainability—a choice experts expect to be more than a trend and something all brands are paying attention to—Allbirds has branded itself as a shoe that values the planet over profit. Ad campaigns have emphasized the transparency of its supply chain, beginning in 2018 with a “Meet Your Shoes” effort from Anomaly. In recent months, Allbirds, which competes with larger brands such as Nike and Adidas, has worked with agencies such as Mythology and Uncommon Creative Studio. Such work has helped grow net revenue to $219.3 million in 2020, a 74% rise over 2018. In its filing, Allbirds announced it plans to expand brand awareness by marketing its sustainability values, including open-sourcing its carbon footprint methodology and challenging copycat brands, something the company has been vocal about in the past. The company will also expand its Allgood Collective, a group of Allbirds brand ambassadors, and store footprint, as well as grow its full-funnel marketing and personalization efforts. With so many companies making claims to sustainability, Allbirds may need to tread carefully. The company was sued earlier this month by Patricia Dwyer, a consumer accusing Allbirds of greenwashing in its advertising, according to The Fashion Law. Dwyer alleged that Allbirds operations are not as eco-friendly as they purport to be.

How Allbirds will step up marketing ahead of going public

Featured Stories