Brand Gurus

Our presentation is really coming together. I’ve just taken a look at the first full draft, and it's in great shape. What is most apparent is how different (and fantastic) each of the programs are, which is a testament to really understanding each brand more and more. I think the approach – having brand gurus take on each scenario - really helped the creativity and direction. This was a good test for how we’d like to manage the account. Although we were all able to participate in the many brainstorms and strategy meetings, it was great to have individuals focus on bringing each of the programs to life under their expertise.

-Peggy

Etienne Aigner is on my mind

I’ve been doing a lot of research about how anniversaries have been covered in the media. It's great that the Mr. Clean team is currently executing a media relations and pop culture outreach program for the brand's 50th anniversary. Also, I thought this was clever and media savvy way to promote an anniversary --it is in celebration of the Wizard of Oz's 70th anniversary next year. (See coverage on the ShoeFlyer blog.)

I've seen a lot of coverage about classic styles returning in a downturn economy, and there is a lot of information about how to build a classic wardrobe, with the perfect equation of 60% classic, 20% basic and 20% trendy.

And, our research team found that 70% of women prefer classic styles over trendy. This is a great foundation for the 60th anniversary of the brand and reinforcing its classic heritage.

It was also very interesting to learn –according to a Consumer Reports research study – that most women own at least 19 pairs of shoes each. WikiAnswers said women 25 to 50 own between 40 and 60 pairs. I think it is close to 40. Great opportunities for Brown Shoe.

-Peggy

Flats, Pumps, Boots… Oh the options!

After meeting with Caryn, Peggy, and Elizabeth this morning, I’m loving that I get to work on creating concepts for Shoes.com! We’ve already had a couple of brainstorms, so the ideas are swarming around my head at the moment.

As most folks have come to learn about me, I am a huge stats person. Did you know that there are 180,940 women on Facebook with the term “Shoes” in their profile? Oh yeah, there’s more where that came from…

–2,592 blog posts have mentioned shoes.com in the past month
–261 photos on Flikr are tagged “Etienne Aigner” (See the slideshow on the left)
–In fact, there have been over 100 Twitter posts in the last second!

There’s lots of talk online about shoes. This is my inspiration for creating concepts for Shoes.com. How can we keep the conversation going? How can we become apart of it?

For starters, few of the most influential (and addicting) shoe blogs are ShoeFlyer, Shoe Blog, Shoewawa, The Daily Pump, and how could I forget, Running with Heels! I’m bursting with ideas, so that’s going to be it for my post today. Time to start turning these ideas into strategies.

-Emily

Dreaming of Shoes…

I am excited to own the Naturalizer scenario tapping into my experience on global accounts and use of turn key elements. With the team’s guidance and insights, I’m prepared to draft MS&L’s approach to creating a program that supports the Naturalizer strategy.

I’ve reached out to some of our global affiliates to understand the shoe-scape in other countries. I've also checked out some sites that have global appeal and would be great to garner information as we develop our global programs:

KeyShapes.com
GlobalFashionReport.com




















I also found a 2007 Global Industry Analysts global shoe study summary that reinforces how important the Asia and the Pacific Rim are to the shoe industry. In fact, Asia-Pacific represents the largest footwear market, in terms of volume. It will be so important to give these markets (and the other priority markets) the turnkey tools they need to communicate to the media in their regions.


-Elizabeth

www.shoes.com

I cannot believe the underground shoe society that is in this office. There is an entire group of women here who are constantly ordering shoes online and sharing their experiences. I had no idea that there were in-office shoe fashion shows and that people were trying on each others shoe purchases. Apparently, the mail room guy gets annoyed with all the shoe deliveries around here. Its all in the name of research though!

The inboxes in the offices are filled with shoe photos as making those important buys demands a lot of input. We are going to tap into the MS&L Digital Team to see if we can bring that to life in someway. Of course, I had to do a lot of my own online shoe research! Can I expense the new boots? Hmmm.

-Peggy

Etienne Aigner B’Storm

Well another awesome turnout for the 60th Anniversary of Etienne Aigner brainstorm, and the ideas were flowing like crazy. It is great that the brand has such a rich heritage. There was a lot of thinking around how to "contemporize" and celebrate the brand while playing up the heritage – burgundy leather, “A” logo, timeless style. We were amazed at how many collectors and all the vintage Etienne Aigner that is available out there. There was a lot of discussion around the equestrian/preppy heritage and how to bring that to life as well.

We also discussed how fashion changes in a bad economy, and that people tend to gravitate to the familiar. We’ll have to research further.

-Peggy

Brainstorming Sessions

We had our first round of brainstorms last week, and I am going through the notes. We got some great ideas brewing for Naturalizer. It is amazing how many people showed up for the brainstorm – and it wasn’t just for the snacks! People just love to talk about shoes.

A bunch of us have worked on international brands and came up with some really breakthrough thinking on how to create a module for global media outreach. I also have reached out to our global network to get a better understanding of how shoes, fashion and accessories are covered and what the best tools are regionally.

-Caryn

Keep On Walking

I’m really excited today after jumping back into Brown Shoe. Word has spread fast through our halls and everyone is asking to help out and be a part of this. Nothing inspires the MS&L fashionistas more than being surrounded by shoes all day.

After some time off it’s great to re-immerse ourselves into the shoe world. I got the team together and dusted off all the old research and work we had done. We took a look at the first round submission and remembered the "shoe box hunts," which we did in search of the perfect package.

I almost forgot about the Inspiration Boards for Famous Footwear and Franco Sarto! Looks like there is more art and crafts in our future.