HERRITAGE Prospering as a talisman for subcultures and morphing into a fashion statement, Dr Marten’s bouncing soles remain iconic. At the forefront of the brand remains the skinhead and SKA movements, a style focused homage to the working class and united over music. Now, the shoes have belonged to countless subcultures. BRAND VALUES Through Dr Martens’ connection with subcultures, the brands core values of selfexpression and non-conformity ring true. The Stand For Something campaign encompasses the identity of the brand and the rich need for the customer’s to stand apart from the crowd. PAST AND PRESENT MARKET POSITION After a triumphant few decades of subculture glory, the Dr Martens brand faced a bleak outlook in 2002 when production was moved overseas and the majority of sales were in Asia and America for industrial work boots. The downturn ended with the noughties, and in
2012 ASOS a 230% rise in the brands sales on their site. Last year Drapers stated that sales rose 36% across the board. Now, the brand continues to grow, with Refinery 29 predicting the 1941 black Oxfords to be the shoe of 2015. REGIONAL ANALYSIS Regionally, Dr Martens Newcastle has proved hugely popular. The launch generated a world record for opening day sales. Since then Newcastle store has held a range events such as the Stand For Something tour’s night in the city and an in store shoe-shine in collaboration with Al’s Musique Boutique. Be it that heavily segregated subcultures no longer exist, the reason the shoes were so popular was the sense of belonging and community. This continues to be maintained by Dr Martens through the connections with music, creativity and culture. The promotion of music and artists revives the community feel it once had.
SWOT ANALYSIS
MARKET PROFILING The Old Sentimentalist
About 50 years old and original Dr martens Fans. Members of the punk or skinhead subcultures, they yearn for the glory days, and find what they’re looking for in Doc Martens. Their main focus is the community originally founded thought Dr Martens. They’ll be found in the pubs, reminiscing about the old times.
The New Mods
This group of people is not gender exclusive, as young adults they belong to the modern equivalent of subcultures; cliques. They’re heavily into music, mainly indie or rock and love the alternative. They’ll be found at gigs in venues like the Cluny.
The On The Fencers Aged 18 to 28, the on the fencers are not into extremes however they do like to dip their toe into the unusual. They are fashion focused and are likely to choose either the traditional or sleek shoes. They’re likely to be found in collage, university or a creative job.
PR OBJECTIVES • To feature Dr Martens’ ties to music, including nurturing emerging talent.
• To showcase Newcastle as the cultural hub of the north east.
• To generate new target audiences though the diversification of the brand.
• To channel engagement with the brand on a personal level.
The #StandForSomethingNCL competition launching across the northeast, will invite people to say what they #StandFor. Everyone that enters will be invited to the launch event, a gig at the Cluny with North East music talent Slug where the promotional video will be launched.
THE COMPETITION 1ST WAVE For the #StandForSomethingNCL regional campaign Dr Marten’s invites fans to post what they stand for in the most creative way possible. In the 1st wave of the competition will be announced on all social media channels. Anyone can enter, stating what they stand for, why they like Dr Martens, their favourite pair of shoes and the best times they’ve had in DM’S. People can make a video response, take photos, draw pictures or write an interesting piece. This range of entry options will open up the competition to a large number of people, with a range of talents and skills inline with the Dr Marten’ s target audience. Posters will also be placed at music venues across Newcastle including The Cluny and The Cumberland Arms to attract a diverse selection of people to the competition. The entry must be uploaded to Twitter with the hashtag #StandForSomethingNCL. Using Twitter creates the opportunity to get the hashtag trending regionally and nationally, gaining a large amount of social media exposure.
2ND WAVE The best 20 entries will be uploaded onto Facebook and Instagram. Voting will then be open to the public to find the best one. The top 20 can promote their bid on their personal social media pages also. This will push the competition and brand into a large number of social media feeds that Dr Martens may not have reached.
THE WINNERS EVENT TICKETS Everyone that enters the competition will be given a pair of ticket to the exclusive launch night gig at the Cluny with North East band Slug. Giving a pair of tickets will introduce another person to the brand values, the diversity of the brand and Dr Martens’ community. THE TOP 20 These 20 winners will receive 50% off any pair of Dr Martens and a signed Slug album.
ANNOUNCING THE WINNER The winner will be announced simultaneously across all of the Dr Martens social media to gain as much exposure as possible. The winning entry is then uploaded to Facebook so people can like, comment and share the post.
THE WINNER The winner will receive a customised pair of Dr Martens’, two backstage passes to the gig and a profile post on the Dr Martens Blog.
INSTAGRAM Teaser In the week before the video launch, teaser clips of the film will be released on Instagram. This is currently the most engaging social media platform, gaining more responses than any other. Also, video content creates twice as much response than photo.
Slug Video A video from Slug will be released on Instagram one week before the first wave of the competition closes using the #StandForSomethingNCL. This will help to encourage people to enter and remind them that the competition is coming to a close.
THE EVENT THE GIG On the launch night, Dr Martens will hold a gig with the band Slug at the Cluny in Newcastle, showcasing the cities’ culture and the Dr Martens community. The video will be showcased at the gig before the band play and then released on the Dr Martens Facebook page, hosted through Youtube. Youtube has the most user-friendly video interface which can hosted on a vast range of social media platforms by anyone that wants to share the video.
GOOGLE + The event will be live streamed on Google+ where up to 150 people can enter hangouts. This allows people that are unable to attend to experience the event and spark conversation between different Dr Martens and music lovers, highlighting the community feel of the brand. It would beneficial for Dr Martens to use Google+ as it is currently underused.
POST LAUNCH SOCIAL MEDIA PHOTO BOOTH At the gig there will be a photo booth for the attendees. The photo’s will print out at the venue as a keepsake, but also saved and uploaded to Facebook the day after the gig where everyone can tag themselves. This will ensure that Dr Martens appears in a range of people’s news feeds after the event.
VIDEO RE-SHARING A week after the launch, the video will be re-shared on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr with the hashtag #StandForSomethingNCL to achieve greatest market contact as these are the most successful Dr Martens pages.
TIME LINE
The first wave of the competition will run for 4 weeks to give people enough time to create their inspired response. The second wave will run for 2 weeks, allowing for enough time for the public to vote and contestants time to self promote. The Slug video will be launched on Facebook on a Friday, as engagement is 18% higher than throughout the week. The gig will be held on a Friday, as this will ensure the maximum number of people can attend, making the crowd as diverse as possible.
PROMOTIONAL FILM BLURB We have never been freer to wear what we want. Style is originality and the creation of an identity. We take a look at your style and the diversity of Dr Martens in the heart of Newcastle. Diving into personal style, we look at how the Dr Marten’s shoes and boots become a statement of individuality in their own right. From your first pair of Doc’s to your tenth, once you lace up your shoes, you belong to the Dr Martens community for life. No matter who you are, there’s a Dr Martens style for you.