Shoe Carnival
SNAPSHOT:
When we started out with Shoe Carnival, the brand essentially had no appeal in the women's discount fashion market. The brand had a story to tell, but it had to be light-hearted and fun. Using the theme, "The funny thing is how little she paid for her shoes," we succeeded in turning around a five-year sales decline and igniting a rally in the company's stock price.
Key Challenge:
Flat and declining sales. Prior to engaging Adamson, these declines were across the board, and were especially weak in women's fashion footwear, a key component to increasing traffic from the female consumer. The CEO's goal was to increase this segment of their business by 20%. In addition to these demonstrable problems, it was clear that Shoe Carnival lacked a strong brand identity.
The Agency's Contribution:
We needed to convince the target audience that Shoe Carnival would continuously surprise them with their strong sense of fashion and their always competitive prices.
The discount footwear category is crowded with players who all want to play the fashion card. Even Wal-Mart is making moves today to be more stylish. The contemporary woman wants both style and value and she knows she can demand it.
Shoe Carnival struggled on this front for a long time, suffering five years of declining sales. In our extensive branding and idea planning processes, we came to one strong conclusion: Shoe Carnival could reach style-conscious women, but they needed to do so in a light-hearted manner. We found that the Shoe Carnival customer certainly wanted the latest fashions, but we also found that she didn't take herself so seriously (compared, for example, to the fashion-driven DSW shopper). This insight just happened to match perfectly with the Shoe Carnival store concept, where a lively promotional experience is at the center of everything.
A strategy of surprising value and surprising fashion was the clear path to success. The entire character and tone of our advertising was based around that single idea: surprise.
And, the tactical execution of surprise has been built around an imaginative icon: a red nose, which pops up along with the statement, "The funny thing is how little she paid for her shoes." The tagline, "Have you been to the Carnival lately?â" further builds the idea of fun and surprising value.
The Shoe Carnival campaign was a complete branding program, with strong, energetic television advertising, humorous radio spots and extensive in-store point of sale. The advertising is brand-building in its character while always carrying a strong, retail message (frequently with price-point promotion).
Market Results:
The initial results, when the campaign broke, were outstanding. Comp sales were up 8 percent in the first year after five years of negative sales. The women's shoe segment increased 30%; 10% more than their goal. Shoe Carnival's stock price hit a 52-week high and The Motley Fool picked the stock as a "best buy.â" This national investor newsletter also noted that Shoe Carnival's new advertising campaign was one of the reasons for great things to come.
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"Day After Thanksgiving"
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Annual Report Cover
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Point of Sale
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Point of Sale
| Print Creative