Red Wing Shoes

 
 

the story

Red Wing Shoes is the premier boot for tradespeople across the world. It has a legacy of offering quality work boots to a passionate fan base of established tradespeople. However, Millennials don’t have a strong connection with the brand and frequently purchase competing products at lower price points.

the output

Brand Definition

Audience Segmentation

Strategy Development

Creative Concepting

Creative Production

Media Planning & Buying

 

Bringing Red Wing’s Brand Purpose to Life:

“To Build a legacy of work done right”

We needed to create a connection and drive purchase intent among millennial tradespeople to create meaningful awareness of Red Wing work boots.

Immersion

In partnership with the Red Wing Shoes marketing team, we immersed ourselves in what “Work Done Right” means by speaking to senior leadership, visiting multiple store locations, and taking factory and tannery tours. We spoke with tradespeople, compiled primary audience research, and attended high school trade events.

Red Wing and SOCIALDEVIANT found a solution that connected millennials and experienced tradespeople through their common love of their craft and the epic work that is still being done in Red Wing boots today.

INSIGHT

  1. Our core consumer is the experienced tradesperson.

  2. Millennial tradespeople don’t trust brands. They trust and seek out the opinions of experienced tradespeople who have been through it all.

  3. The legacy of epic work being done in Red Wing boots isn’t just historical - these stories continue today.

 

The Big Idea

a monument to the American Worker: the Red Wing Wall of Honor

Tradespeople submitted photos of their actual worn boots and epic stories for a chance to be enshrined on the Red Wing Wall of Honor - a physical and digital wall of workers’ real, worn boots and stories. 32 tradespeople were selected by the Red Wing Shoes team to make the Wall, and they all received new Red Wing boots.

Results

The Wall of Honor campaign brought Red Wing Shoes’ purpose to life for the first time and united internal teams under a common effort.

We were able to illustrate the epic things our tradespeople do in their boots every single day. These stories now reach and open a world of possibility for the next generation of workers.

Based on the campaign’s initial success, we are expanding efforts to integrate all brand marketing activity with the Wall of Honor, and drive global participation. Wall of Honor marketing will now repeat annually, under a broader evergreen program titled “Tribute to the Trades.”

Statistics

Submitted Stories | 734 Wall of Honor story submissions (far surpassing our initial goal of 100)

Website Visits | Approximately 105,000 Wall of Honor website visits

Social Impressions | 17 million social media impressions

Social Sentiment | 92% positive social media sentiment around the brand and campaign

Social Engagement | 49% increase in social engagements vs. June 2017

Press | Included in Adweek