“When you think of Hush Puppies, you probably think of the kind of shoes your dad (and his dad) would wear. But the American footwear company’s getting serious with sneakers now, and this is what you should expect from here on out.” The charming, and spot on, words of GQ summarise the journey we’ve been on with heritage-filled footwear brand, Hush Puppies over the last year. While legacy should be celebrated, we’ve been paw-in-paw on a mission to help the brand widen to new audiences and refresh existing audience’s associations with the brand through our PR, social media and influencer knowhow. So, how can this be achieved without losing sight of its rich heritage?!
Rebuild awareness
Ask anyone if they’re familiar with Hush Puppies and you’ll likely get a yes. Ask anyone what they think of Hush Puppies, and they’ll likely reference the past. There’s been something warming over the last year hearing journalists and influencers’ tales of their Hush Puppies school shoes or ‘90s nostalgia. However, the brand has come on leaps and bounds (even with Jason the basset hound’s short legs) and needed eyes back on it. Our first building block has been to reintroduce press, influencers and Instagram and Facebook followers to what Hush Puppies is today. A slick press office was introduced, resulting in 66 pieces of media coverage across the likes of the Financial Times, Stylist, Tatler and Cosmopolitan, to name just a few. We made getting eyes on the brand a social media priority, attracting a reach of 125,000(that’s a 78% increase on the previous period, no biggie) and partnering with influencers with a combined following of 435,106. While perceptions of the brand needed adjusting, awareness had to be there for perceptions to be formed or altered.
Tell your own narrative
Once in front of those audiences, it was time for us to take control of how people see, and what they know about, Hush Puppies. Inspired by being the first brand to inject colour into footwear, Hush Puppies’ Better & Brighter initiative runs through everything it does, meaning a big ol’ puppy lick of colour was given to the brand’s feed, and content pushes an infinitely positive outlook on life. Influencers’ briefs have been meticulously crafted in line with our PR and social media strategy, positioning Hush Puppies as a brand on the move.
On the press side of things, outreach carefully balances how Hush Puppies’ heritage has influenced its current and future direction. However, there is only so much that can be conveyed via email and good things come from good conversations so we’ve prioritised getting in front of the media who matter and conveying both the brand and product in a way that will turn the tide over time.
Our annual Summer Showcase opened the opportunity to talk at length about the brand’s history, with brand manager, Florence appearing on our panel discussion on how heritage brands can continue to evolve in a world of uncertainty and change. With hundreds of media through the door, AW24’s collection was previewed and in-person conversations allowed us to build a deeper understanding and engage press.
Most recently, we kicked off our ongoing ‘Save Your Soles’ campaign – press activity which, attached to seasonal events, we will be using to maintain awareness for how comfortable Hush Puppies’ footwear is while pushing our heritage-brand-evolving-through-time story one-to-one with press. On a soggy Thursday, armed with gifting kits to make Oxford Street Christmas shopping the slightest more bearable (including HP’s ever-so-comfy shoes, obviously) we hit British media’s top publishing houses. Meeting with the likes of Elle, Women’s Health and Conde Nast Traveller, we made journalists’ lives easier by meeting in their offices and took the opportunity to discuss the brand at length.
Do something different
The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting a different result. So, when Hush Puppies came to us with the task of supporting on their first pop up store, we were delighted to use this as a prime example of how the brand is taking new risks. A store drenched with colour + fashion press and influencers joining us for pedicures, gifting and stomach filling + a carefully thought-out social media strategy and killer content + a stream of happy customers going home with shoes and random acts of kindness = An influx of press coverage, happy clients and happy roosters.
Engage a community
Carrying out all the above has steadily helped us grow Hush Puppies’ audience, both in the media and on socials. In line with its Better & Brighter focus, engaging a likeminded community has been essential. An amalgamation of content we’ve produced in-house, assets we’ve directed Hush Puppies’ creative team to produce and influencer collaborations from carefully crafted briefs, community has been at the core of our social media channels.
