Vans marketing and communication proposal by Isabelle Simpson

EVDNT ULTIMATEWAFFLE PROPOSAL ISABELLE SIMPON INTERNATION FASHION COMMUNICATIONS UFP 504 WORD COUNT: 2575

CONTENTS PESTLE

PAGE 1

THE MARKET - MICRO ANALYSIS

PAGE 2

COMPETITORS - MICRO ANALYSIS

PAGE 3

SWOT

PAGE 4

THE BRAND - VANS

PAGE 5

THE WHOLESALER - JD SPORTS

PAGE 6

THE CUSTOMER

PAGE 7

PRIMARY RESEARCH

PAGE 8

COMMUNICATION METHODS

PAGE 9 - 10

THE TASK AND START POINT

PAGE 11

MARKETING TACTICS AND OBJECTIVES

PAGE 12

MARKETING TACTICS - ONLINE

PAGE 13 - 14

MARKETING TACTICS - IN STORE

PAGE 15

MEASURING SUCCESS

PAGE 16

REFERENCES

PAGE 17

APPENDIX

PAGE 18 - 19

PESTLE ANALYSIS This report is split into two sections, the research and the proposal. Through the information found in these two sections an idea will be developed to extend and adapt Vans’ marketing strategy for the new Evdnt Ultimatewaffle shoe. The research section explores the market and competitors as well as Vans and JD Sports. The proposal section explains the idea to extend the campaign and shows ‘mock-ups’ of marketing material and in-store advertising that could be used for the campaign.

POLITICAL

Brexit uncertainty has been a cause of concern for many in the fashion industry. This has affected the trade deals between the UK and the rest of the world, leaving many retailers uncertain to whether they will be able to continue to use their current suppliers. Another impact of Brexit is that short term work visas could influence promotional events such as London Fashion Week, meaning that the UK would not have its own catwalk event and many UK retailers may struggle to showcase their products. This could cause a dip in sales, and for brands built on the ‘trickle-down’ theory, their product range would be affected. COVID 19 has had a huge impact on the fashion industry, causing all non-essential retailers to shut down for months at a time. Businesses with online capabilities have not suffered quite as much as brick and mortar only stores. Along with this, retailers have not been able to transport products from other countries, so some have resorted to manufacturing within the UK and increasing their costs. This would have a knock-on effect to their pricing and may cause some consumers to shop somewhere cheaper.

TECHNOLOGICAL

RFID is becoming more and more popular within the fashion industry, and as shops begin to reopen this will be seen a lot more in brick and mortar retailers. RFID can be used to keep track of stock, therefore making stock files more accurate. Within this it can be used through the checkout, so all items can be placed into an RFID basket, and the checkout will automatically know what items the customer has got and there is no need to scan every item. This would dramatically cut down queueing and till time, creating a much quicker shopping experience and giving staff more time to attend to consumers properly. 3D printing is being introduced into the fashion industry and can help to make the process much more sustainable as well as creating prototypes of new products. Eliminating waste and using less water is a huge goal for the fashion industry as a whole, and 3D printing could be the answer to this, the material used is also typically recyclable and reusable. 3D printing is also growing the custom clothing market, as consumers can submit their measurements to a company, and they can 3D print a garment to perfectly fit their body.

ECONOMIC

LEGAL

SOCIAL

ENVIRONMENTAL

COVID 19 has caused a nationwide recession across all areas of retail, not just fashion. This has caused high levels of unemployment and redundancies across many jobs. Consumers who have lost jobs throughout the COVID 19 pandemic will have much less disposable income to spend on fashion, and will need to prioritise essential purchases over this. Unemployment and redundancies will also lead to retail stores closing and causing the high streets to become more and more empty. High streets becoming less dominated by fashion retail will then lead to consumers having to shop online, with the impact from this and COVID 19 online shopping will become more and more popular.

Increasing popularity of shop-able social media posts has sparked an increase in brands using influencers to promote their products through social media. Using social media will help to reach gen z right through to baby boomers. Shop-able links create a very short customer journey between seeing the product and the time of purchase. With many people currently working from home, they have more time to browse social media and having this quick and easy way to shop embedded within this will create more sales. Changes in consumer attitudes towards diversity and inclusion means that consumers will be pickier towards the brands that they decide to shop from. Brands who celebrate diversity and inclusivity within their marketing campaigns and clothing sizing will be more popular within these groups of consumers who are more ‘switched on’ than regular consumers.

Known by many consumers, the fashion industry is notorious for using cheap labour. When factoring in import tax, inflation and labour it can get very expensive to create garments so the way that they get around this is by manufacturing in a country that does not have a minimum wage or minimum working age. The Rana Plaza disaster is an example of why retailers need to begin to take responsibility for their actions and start to pay their labourers a real wage, and ensure that all workplaces are safe for employees. Because of these issues, some consumers have begun to boycott brands who use sweatshops and do not pay their employees fairly, causing them to lose sales and begin to become less and less popular. New laws enforced by the ASA have been introduced to ensure that adverts are disclosed correctly, and these will create extra steps in the marketing stage for a brand. This will not only make the process more expensive but also longer, and brands will have to ensure that all of their advertising will meet these new laws.

The fashion industry is responsible for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (According to the UN, 2019), making them the second largest polluter in the world. Untreated toxic wastewater from textile factories is dumped directly into rivers in countries where garments are produced, making the water undrinkable and unusable for any local communities and wildlife. Another concern is water consumption, and the fashion industry is using tons of fresh water every day. “Up to 20,000 litres of water are needed to produce just 1kg of cotton” (Sustainyourstyle 2021). Using this much water has a dramatic ecological impact and has caused the desertification of the Aral sea. “85 % of the daily needs in water of the entire population of India would be covered by the water used to grow cotton in the country.” (Leahy 2021)

THE MARKET - MICRO ANALYSIS The global footwear market is worth £279.78 billion pounds, and the UK footwear market makes up 3% at £10.9 billion pounds (Statista 2021). The current market is expected to experience a COVID 19 related decline of up to 6%. This will likely result in a ‘V’ shape shown on the graphs after the pandemic is over, as the footwear market should recover quickly. Shoes are an essential item and consumers will be rushing out to buy them as soon as the shops open as well as buying through online channels and this will help the market continue to recover. The ‘sneakers’ segment of the footwear market has the highest growth potential of 48% between 2019 and 2025, possible due to the growing demand for comfort throughout the COVID 19 pandemic. As many people now work from home, business wear is no longer required, and trainers are being worn more and more. Consumers are choosing comfort over anything else and are wanting to spend their disposable income on products that create a more comfortable ‘work from home’ environment. As well as this, sports has become more popular, driving sales of activewear throughout the pandemic.

Figure 1 (Statista 2021)

To conclude, I will make sure to focus my proposal on the comfort of the new ‘ultimate waffle’ shoe to appeal to a wider consumer base. Following the information that consumers are beginning to choose comfort and ease over anything else, I think that this is really important. Knowing the customer and what they are looking for is essential when making a marketing campaign, especially after the COVID 19 pandemic as consumer attitudes and needs have changed. As well as comfort, consumers are bothered by sustainability and many have begun to realise that they were previously buying much more than they needed. This leads to consumers wanting to buy multi-purpose fashion items and higher quality items that will last longer. Marketing trainers as multi-purpose for comfort, fashion and sporting use will help to drive sales and ensure brands such as Vans do not lose any more revenue than they already have during the pandemic.

Figure 2 (Statista 2021)

Figure two shows the changing consumer attitudes due to COVID, and 83% of consumers want to buy products that will last longer, or that can be repaired easily. Consumers also want less pressure from social media to buy fashion, so marketing campaigns need to be less forceful and more persuasive. to

COMPETITORS - MICRO ANALYSIS PUMA BRAND TOUCH POINTS

Figure 3 (Author’s own 2021)

ADIDAS BRAND TOUCH POINTS

Figure 4 (Author’s own 2021)

Vans’ key competitors are: Nike, Adidas, Converse, Puma and Etnies. Adidas and Puma are their main two competitors who sell similar shoes to Vans, they are versatile and comfortable. These two brands sell sports shoes for all occasions, different sports, casual wear and fashion trainers. Converse and Nike are two of Vans’ other competitors who sell sports trainers as well as fashion trainers. These are traditionally two of the most popular brands for consumers to buy trainers from, however they do not cater as much to the streetwear and skate competitors. Etnies are a skate brand who sell specifically skate shoes making them a direct competitor to Vans, sold at many of the same wholesalers that Vans are sold at.

Puma and Adidas use similar platforms, however Puma does not have an app and Adidas does not use Tik Tok. For Puma, their Facebook page has the highest reach of their platforms and it is the same for Adidas. However, similarly to Vans and JD the platform that will reach their core customer the most is Instagram. Puma have 11.7 million followers and Adidas have 25.9 million, so Adidas will be getting a higher engagement than Puma. Both brands use different types of content across these platforms to ensure that each one is slightly different and will suit each of their customer types. This definitely helps to improve engagement and reach across all platforms.

Figure 3 (Author’s Own)

SWOT

As a brand, Vans have a very strong message and are well known for their contribution to the extreme sports community, however as a brand they want to begin to move towards streetwear and styling. This comes after they struggled to penetrate the Asian market because of their connection to sports.

STRENGTHS •Vans has always been a family run business and will continue to be known for their established business and unique identity.

WEAKNESSES •Vans does not have the ability to penetrate emerging markets such as Asia as they are mainly populated by brands such as Nike and Adidas, brands much bigger than Vans.

•Focusing on a niche market which helps them to better understand their customer and keep up with them.

•In recent years, Vans have been trying to change their brand into a ‘lifestyle’ brand and focus less on specific sports. This has been unsuccessful because of their connection to skateboarding is, and their slogan ‘off the wall’ this creates confusion for customers.

•Vans have a very loyal customer base, who are mainly returning customers who have repurchased many times. •They create stylish and unique skate shoes, instead of just black or grey ones like many other skate specific brands. •Vans have strong relationships with many licensors such as Disney, Star Wars and The Simpsons who all promote Vans in their shows and films, as well as allow Vans to create products using their images.

•Vans are not seen as a very ‘feminine’ brand by many women and this will affect their core customer hugely; because of this, many women will choose to shop elsewhere until Vans creates some more feminine footwear. •Some consumers argue that Vans do not last as long as other brands and that they have to re-purchase more often as the durability isn’t as good.

•Vans put on events and sponsors extreme sporting events for the sports that they produce products for, such as skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing. •Huge sizing range, from infant up to adult size 16. •Hundreds of colours and designs, and the opportunity to design your own shoes on their website. OPPORTUNITIES •Extreme sports are beginning to make their way over to Asia, and the market is growing so this could be Vans’ way of penetrating this market. •They could promote their brand through music, and extreme sporting events across the world. •Vans could create collaborations with other brands such as: Thrasher, Supreme, A Bathing Ape etc. This would really help Vans to change their core customer and bring their products into the centre of the streetwear market, which is where they want to be selling now instead of just to skateboarders. •Expanding their product lines to create shoes that are more suited to day to day wear and consumers who do not do sport. •Increasing their online presence and social media use would increase customer engagement.

THREATS •Their main competitors are Converse, Nike, Adidas and Puma and these brands are all much larger than Vans. This could cause problems with marketing and Vans not being able to produce items to the scale that these other brands can. •Vans struggle with counterfeit items along with many other brands, and cheap replicas are being sold of Vans products. This begins to eat into the market share of the company. •Increasing costs of shoe production along with the costs of holding sporting events could put Vans into debt. • COVID-19 has threatened the global footwear market as all retailers have had to close for months and many consumers have got used to shopping online. Many consumers have no desire to go back to shopping in store.

•Changing their app to be shoppable would create a much shorter customer journey and possibly increase sales due to ease.

THE BRAND - VANS Vans uses their website, app and social media channels to communicate with their customers, and their Instagram is the social media platform that gets the most reach and engagement. With 17.6 million followers this platform will reach their core customer (aged 16 to 30, fashionable youth), and their most used platform is Instagram. (QUOTE) Their Instagram shows photographs of skaters wearing their shoes to show styling tips as well as sporting inspiration. Vans also uses skate influencers to help boost their engagement. “Vans is leading the social media game in the shoe industry with a whopping 1.2 million followers on Instagram. Vans’ Twitter handle is one of the most visually attractive Twitter feeds you’ll come across.” (Unmetric 2021)

IN ACTION MIX OF VINTAGE AND MODERN SPORTING EVENTS

ITEM CUSTOMISATION

PERSONALITY

INCLUSIVE UNIQUE

FUN

KEEPING PRICES LOW

YOUNG

TRADITIONAL

VALUES

STYLISH AND OFFER WIDE UNIQUE PRICE RANGE OF COMPETITIVE STYLES ESSENCE FAMILY RUN EXTREME SPORTING

Figure 6 (Author’s own 2021)

Figure 5 (Author’s own 2021)

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

LIVELY

Vans’ brand essence is something that they are very well known for. The Van Doran brothers founded Vans back in 1966 and has stayed in the family ever since. This creates an authentic and vintage feel to the brand, and most likely having a positive effect on customer retention throughout the years they have been trading. Vans are a very inclusive and fun brand, who offer almost every colour of shoe to please any style and gender. They also carry a huge and inclusive sizing range across all of their shoes and clothing items. Vans offers a unique mix of vintage and modern shoe styles, while still being practical and comfortable to wear day to day and for sports. “We are INCLUSIVE — We invite unique perspectives and value different experiences. We want to hear each other’s point of view. We are vibrant and EXPRESSIVE in how we speak, interact and get our jobs done. We have FUN working at Vans because we work hard and play hard in our pursuit of enabling creative expression.” (Vans 2021)

THE WHOLESALE PARTNER - JD JD uses their website, mobile app and social media platforms to communicate with consumers, similar to the platforms Vans use. JD’s app is shoppable unlike the Vans family app, which is purely made to browse. JD also use Instagram most as their core customer is very similar to Vans’ core customer, and they create IGTV videos with influencers to improve engagement. JD need to focus on making their Tik Tok page more interesting for consumers to interact with, and create content that will be viewed and shared between customers. A JD brand representative said “It is the good mix of brands, opening in the right markets and providing a great experience in store. Plus its social [media] is really good. [JD] does all the right events, from [collaboration with tourism company] Ibiza Rocks to boxing [matches].” (Clark, T 2019) IN ACTION

IN ACTION ENCOURAGING KIDS TO PLAY SPORT

USING DIVERSE SIZING AND MODELS STORE EVENTS

PERSONALITY EXCITEMENT

FUN

YOUNG

CONSISTENCY

PODCASTS AND YOUTUBE

INCLUSIVE

VALUES POSITIVITY

PERSONALITY

COMPETENT

DIVERSITY

ESSENCE

COVERS HUNDREDS OF SPORTS

CUSTOMER ENGAGMENT

FITNESS

VALUES

Figure 7 (Author’s own 2021)

JD’s brand essence is centred around their main sports and their main ESSENCE values which are inclusivity and diversity. JD show the brand’s fun side through in store events with live DJ’s and live podcasts, this creates a ‘hype’ around these events and gives customers something to look forward to. For JD, inclusivity and diversity is a huge part of the brand and ensuring that they stock retailers who use diverse models and sell inclusive sizes is something that they are hot on. This also helps to improve customer engagement and retention, as many customers will choose to shop with them again after seeing this.

INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE

Figure 8 (Author’s own 2021)

THE CUSTOMER DEMOGRAPHICS “73% of consumer respondents reported themselves to be 25 or under” (HypeBeast 2021) “Ultimately, streetwear is driven by a series of factors that are unprecedented in fashion: men showing interest in style, casual clothing taking a front row seat and the luxury elite bending to the taste of popular demand.” (HypeBeast 2021) According to respondents, 69% of streetwear consumers choose it because it is ‘cool’, 57% wear streetwear because of comfort, and 45% wear it because of the exclusivity. (HypeBeast 2021) PSYCHOGRAPHICS “half of consumers reported they are willing to wait in line for a product release” (HypeBeast 2021) “Streetwear consumers are guided by tradition, authenticity and brand legacy, which makes it hard for new brands to build a customer base, no matter how stylish their product.” (Elven, M 2019) “Young shoppers like pre-owned goods for their lower prices and ability to express concern for causes like sustainability.” (Maguire, L 2019)

Emerging streetwear trends include sportswear, cosy outfits and loungewear as well as ‘explorer’ themes. These three trends are beginning to pop up as the UK comes out of lockdown, and consumers have become much more worried about being comfortable over other concerns. Rugby and baseball have had strong influences within brands such as Obey and Huf, creating comfortable yet stylish long sleeved tops.

FINANCES Consumers reported that “$100 to $300 (£70-215) per product is the sweet spot for pricing streetwear items” (HypeBeast 2021) “70% of consumers reported an income of $40,000 (£29,000) or less” (HypeBeast 2021) “Even with a low budget, 54 percent of the consumers who participated in the survey are willing to spend up to 500 US dollars (393 pounds) on streetwear items each month, with most respondents (56 percent) spending an average of 100-300 US dollars (78-235 pounds) per item.” (Elven, M 2019) INFORMATION “Footwear is, by far, the most popular streetwear item, with 62 percent of surveyors selecting it as the product they are most likely to buy, followed by T-shirts and hoodies (30 percent).” (Elven, M 2019)

(Pinterest 2021)

INDUSTRY According to respondents, the top streetwear brands are: Supreme, Nike, Off-White, BAPE, Stussy, Palace, Carhartt WIP and Vetements. (HypeBeast 2021)

Sherpa has become a favourite among streetwear brands; hoodies and joggers have been created from this fabric to bring consumers comfortable outfits for day-to-day wear. ‘Explorer’ or utility garments have also become more popular as the UK begins to come out of the pandemic as consumers want to feel more put together while not needing to put in much effort. This trend is made up of mainly cargo trousers, bucket hats and printed shirts.

LOCATION “Consumers reported social media and the streets are where they take the most inspiration for streetwear” (HypeBeast 2021) “Although streetwear lovers are digitally savvy, physical stores are still the channel of choice for 53 percent of those surveyed. E-commerce websites come next, having obtained the preference of 42 percent of respondents.” (Elven, M 2019) VALUES AND BELIEFS “2/3 of consumers reported they place high importance on brand activism” (HypeBeast 2021) “Half of consumer respondednts reported they are likely to quit a brand due to inappropriate behaviour by a brand representative” (HypeBeast 2021) COMMUNICATION “Who’s influencing streetwear consumers’ style? As to be expected, most respondents (80 percent) said they are inspired by hip-hop and rap stars. Musicians are followed by contemporary artists (mentioned by 42 percent of surveyors) and athletes (40 percent).” (Elven, M 2019)

(McMahon, J 2021)

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Primary research was conducted through a google forms survey, it was posted onto the authors social media as well as into a streetwear Facebook group. The survey received 30 respondents and primary research is important to further understand the customer and what they are interested in when buying streetwear.

What do you buy trainers for? •56.7% buy trainers for fashion, comfort and sports – fits with the brief of the ultimate waffle shoe. •33.3% buy trainers for just fashion, so Vans need to target this customer more than they currently are. •The smallest category is sports with 3.3%, so the streetwear consumer is really not interested in buying shoes for just sports purposes and would rather have multi-functional items.

Figure 9 (Author’s own 2021)

Figure 10 (Author’s own 2021)

Would you consider yourself a streetwear customer? •50% of respondents would consider themselves a streetwear consumer, and 43.3% of those customers would buy Vans. •As the market is a 50/50 split between streetwear consumers and non-streetwear consumers, Vans could make a target to penetrate the market more than they currently are.

What channels do you use to buy trainers? •Most respondents (63.3%) prefer to buy trainers in store, this is generally because they can try on shoes as many brands it slightly differently, and Vans are sold in many wholesalers so that makes this very easy. •60% of respondents like to buy trainers online, mainly due to being able to use student discount and shop around for the best price. Vans offers 10% student discount on their own website currently. •20% of respondents like to shop via app, which Vans do not currently have so this could cause lost sales to other retailers.

Which retailer would you buy trainers from? •43.3% of respondents choose to buy trainers from JD due to their wide product range, student discount and brand values. •3.3% of respondents would choose to buy from Vans directly as they get to choose from the entire product and colour range instead of a select range sold at wholesalers. Vans also offers student discount, and many loyal customers will only shop with the brand themselves. Figure 11 (Author’s own 2021)

Figure 12 (Author’s own 2021)

What would make you want to buy Vans? •Based on the information given by respondents, Vans need to improve their marketing campaigns to engage with the consumer that they want to attract. •Consumers also want to see some new styles that are more feminine and some different styles that are less related to skateboarding.

Figure 13 (Author’s own 2021)

COMMUNICATION METHODS NEW COMMUNICATION METHODS

SALES PROMOTION

EXPLANATION

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

GUERRILLA MARKETING

HOW COULD VANS USE THIS METHOD

Short term incentives to encourage purchase – discounts, competitions, loyalty cards, limited edition products. Student discounts

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Vans discount codes given to consumers after signing up to the app. Selling products that are exclusive to the Vans stores or colourways that are exclusive to certain wholesalers or countries.

Sponsor an event, team, cause, art exhibition, cultural attraction, entertainment.

Coachella - Sephora Nike Coca Cola RedBull Pepsi

Streetwear brands catwalk shows, wholesale fashion events, smaller streetwear ‘drop’ events. This would bring the Vans name into the streetwear world and help them to penetrate this new market.

Retailers are beginning to use influencer marketing more and more; they start by choosing a trusted celebrity or influencer who fits with their brand. This influencer will be sent products from the retailer and asked to show them wearing the products on their social media pages. In some cases, the influencer will also be paid for this.

JD – Anthony Joshua, WillNE, Maya Jama and Aitch. Nike – Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Converse – Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pine and Whitney Port.

Provide customers with memorable, multi-sensory experiences – offline or online- E.g. events/experiences.

Nike Run Club Coachella – Sephora Nike Living room cup Verizon Oioba

Creating a personalised experience for customers who visit certain stores – could be customising skateboards or shoes, lessons with a pro etc. These experiences could be unique to each store so they are more exclusive to customers in different areas.

Non-traditional campaigns that often include controversial methods and are designed with the purpose of creating a positive ‘buzz’ around the brand.

Oioba Rimmel McDonalds The bull statue in the Birmingham Bullring

Vans could paint a Zebra crossing in the checkerboard pattern outside a Vans store, or creating a ‘Vans-shaped’ shoe vending machine to place in a busy shopping centre or busy city centre.

SPONSORSHIP

CELEBRITY / INFLUECNER / AMBASSADOR

RETAILER EXAMPLES USING THIS METHOD

Vans could use this method through their marketing strategies with streetwear influencers. They already use skateboarding influencers but need to target the streetwear consumer by using fashion influencers. Vans could use are the 4 men from the PAQ YouTube channel, Lucien Clarke or Gully Guy Leo. Vans could also be looking for female influencers after many respondents to the primary research said that the brand wasn’t very feminine and this would be a good way for Vans to fix this problem.

COMMUNICATION METHODS NEW COMMUNICATION METHODS

GAMIFICATION

CONTENT MARKETING

USER-GENERATED CONTENT

EXPLANATION

RETAILER EXAMPLES USING THIS METHOD

HOW COULD VANS USE THIS METHOD

Engaging consumers through problem solving. Usually using social media channels. Using advertising through gaming on separate websites as well as the retailers own platforms.

Verizon Nike Living room cup McDonalds - Monopoly

Using a sports game to market the new vans product through a gameline. Vans could create competitions through online sports or skateboarding games and winners of these competitions could win shoes or vouchers to spend at the Vans store.

Creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to entertain, inspire, educate or convince.

Monki Forever 21 Burberry Rimmel

Creating content for Vans website or social media content. This could be centered around the new shoe or promoting existing styles that are similar. Using multiple products and showing how different Vans products can go together will usually help to drive sales.

Consumers create their own content shared via a given platform. Retailers will try to create a sense of online community for customers to chat with like-minded people.

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Creating a hashtag or post challenge for consumers to get involved with. This could be related to the new products or just a challenge to post every time you wear a Vans product. This could also be turned into a competition for consumers.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social networks are touchpoints to engage communities, start conversations, recruit employees and develop new and innovative ideas.

LIVE STREAMS

Live video is changing the way brands interact with their audiences. A live video strategy engages viewers in immediate and authentic ways that other social media formats cannot.

Nike Living room cup Forever 21 Marc Jacobs Prada Burberry Rimmel

Loreal, Mac, Monki, Nike, Adidas and Supreme all do live streams with influencers and consumers incorporated.

Social media is a classic marketing technique and Vans could use this much more than they already do. They should take advantage of their Instagram account and use all of the features such as Live videos, Reels, IGTV, Stories and Shopping to connect with their target customer and get feedback. Following COVID19, Vans could live stream their events held at the House of Vans. Many consumers may not feel comfortable to go to events as soon as restrictions get lifted. and this is a good way to ensure that all consume. Live streams should also be used on platforms such as Instagram to connect with customers and help Vans understand what they would like to see from them in the future.

THE PROPOSAL

THE TASK AND START POINT Vans are launching a new shoe called the ‘Evdnt Ultimatewaffle’ in Fall 2021. This shoe will be different to many of their others as it is much more lifestyle focussed and marketed towards the streetwear consumer instead of the skateboarding consumer. The shoe’s slogan is “ultimate comfort, ultimate fit and ultimate durability”, bringing in the classic characteristics of a Vans shoe while updating the style to appeal to a new market. Vans have created a marketing campaign for the shoe with the title ‘Loud and Clear’ and are planning to hold a strong-tie event within the release of the shoe. They are also creating a broadcast to be played at the event, around the idea of ‘Loud and Clear. This proposal will outline how Vans could use social media marketing and strong-tie events to adapt their campaign to suit the wholesale partner JD sports and connect with the streetwear consumer.

(Bowler, B 2021)

MARKETING TACTICS & OBJECTIVES Marketing objectives:

“PAQ: The YouTubers Elevating Men’s Streetwear” (Ahmed, S 2021)

• To generate 50,000 shares, 80,000 impression and 60,000 posts of user-generated content across all social media platforms. • To achieve 10,000 competition entries across the UK. • To drive sales of all Vans shoes through competition entries. • To re-position Vans as a streetwear brand instead of a skateboarding and sportswear brand. To evolve Vans’ current marketing campaign for the ‘Evdnt Ultimatewaffle’ I would begin by creating a styling event. This event would be held between the wholesale partner JD Sports and Vans inside the Oxford Street JD Sports store. This event would be hosted by the men from the YouTube channel PAQ, who are a streetwear styling channel to improve engagement with the streetwear customer that Vans want to attract. “The boys of PAQ prove wrong anyone that has ever or will ever say that there is no room for creativity when it comes to menswear. Danny, Elias, Dexter, and Shaquille make up the PAQ clique along with the occasional guest judges and their cameraman Meeks. Other than PAQ, each of the boys has his own thing going on, which explains how their individual styles came to be.” (Ahmed, S 2017) This would be a ticketed event and tickets would be sold through the Vans Family app to help improve traffic on the app. For the styling event, there would be a competition run throughout JD Sports stores to be one of the people to be styled by PAQ. At the event, the five competition winners will receive a pair of the new ‘Evdnt Ultimatewaffle’ trainers and a full outfit styled by PAQ from the JD store. Anyone who purchases a pair of Vans shoes in a JD Sports store or through the website will be entered into this competition to win the styling experience. The competition will be promoted through social media by the Vans team, JD Sports staff, influencers such as Anthony Joshua, WillNE and Maya Jama, as well as the PAQ men themselves. Promotions will be shown on both retailers websites and apps as well as being sent out through email newsletters.

(Ahmed, S 2021) (Canvas8 2017)

DIFFERENTIATE

To pull themselves away from the skateboarding community, Vans need to show that they are serious about streetwear and take the first step to pull the streetwear market into their target audience. This would be one of the first collaborative events between a brand, a wholesaler and an influencer of this type.

REINFORCE

Vans are one of the first brands to try and make this switch, and getting involved with streetwear brands and influencers will give consumers more confidence in the brand; these influencers will bring a community of followers with them that they can introduce to the brand and new products.

INFORM

For consumers who are loyal Vans customers, they may not know much about streetwear and this event can educate them about how to wear certain styles and give them confidence with styling. The new shoe is very versatile and can be worn with almost anything, so consumers can learn from the PAQ boys, and then style the shoes with whatever they are comfortable wearing.

PERSUADE

Creating user-generated content on social media will create a community between the Vans consumer and streetwear market. This will allow customers to share their own styling tips, meet like-minded people and share their opinions with Vans to help improve their customer engagement and product range.

MARKETING TACTICS - ONLINE

Figure 14 (Author’s own 2021)

SOCIAL MEDIA - INSTAGRAM

Figure 14, 15 and 17 show ‘mock-ups’ for Vans’ main Instagram page, JD official’s Instagram page and the PAQ Instagram. These are grid posts that can be put up on release day to begin to excitement around the event. Posting on all three accounts will help to attract different customers and hopefully draw in the streetwear customer that Vans is trying to attract. The posts all explain the competition and how to enter, as well as directing customers over to the Vans Family app to improve traffic. Using hashtags and tagging brands in the posts will give customers the freedom to post under those hashtags and create user generated content, as well as a Vans streetwear community online. For the campaign, all shoes worn in the promotional photographs will be the Evdnt UltimateWaffle. Figure 16 shows an Instagram story ‘mock-up’ that would be posted on all three Instagram pages to help improve engagement across the campaign. The story features a photograph of the shoe, a photograph of the PAQ boys and a small explanation of what the competition is about. Using the classic checkerboard pattern as a background will instantly show consumers that this is a Vans campaign. Using the swipe up link that will go straight to the Vans website and show the page about the competition and even will create a shorter customer journey and improve customer engagement.

Figure 17 (Author’s own 2021)

Figure 16 (Author’s own 2021)

Figure 15 (Author’s own 2021)

MARKETING TACTICS - ONLINE

Figure 18 (Author’s own 2021)

WEBSITE AND EMAIL

Figure 20 shows a ‘mock-up’ for the Vans email newsletter that would be sent out to customers on the launch day of the new shoe. This email contains a short summary of the competition and event, along with some promotional images to show the influencers involved and a picture of the new product. There is then a red button on the email that would link the customer to the Vans website where the full event is explained and there would be links to buy tickets for the audience. This email would be sent out to everyone who is signed up to the Vans mailing list.

Figure 19 (Author’s own 2021)

Figure 18 shows the ‘mock-up’ for the Vans website, this gives a short explanation of the competition and event and shows images of the influencers who are involved in the campaign. There are also some promotional images of the new shoes to show the customers what they could win. The webpage then has a hyperlink to take the customer to another page that will further explain the competition and event. This page will also explain how customers can buy tickets to be in the audience at the event. Figure 19 shows the ‘mock-up’ for the JD website, using the JD colour scheme and the Vans logo to remind customers which brand the promotion is for. The website page is set up very similar to the Vans page with a link to a page with more information and promotional photos including the influencers and products. Figure 20 (Author’s own 2021)

MARKETING TACTICS - IN STORE Figure 22 and 23 show ‘mock-ups’ for window posters to promote the new Vans shoe and styling event. The posters show photographs of the ultimatewaffle shoe as well as the influencers who will be involved in the styling event. These posters can be put up in the windows in Vans stores as well as JD stores across the UK. The QR code on the poster will take the customer straight to the website to find out more information about the event and the trainers, as well as explaining how customers can get tickets to be in the audience for the event too.

Figure 23 (Author’s own 2021)

These posters can be multi-functional and printed smaller to place around the store or even used as flyers to hand out to customers to build awareness.

Figure 21 (Author’s own 2021) Figure 21 shows a ‘mock-up’ of an in store visual merchandising display for the new ulitmatewaffle shoe. This would be put on display in a JD Sports store near the doors, and the two black podiums would have the shoes on top shown in all colourways. The mannequin in the middle would be wearing a streetwear outfit to match with the new trainers. On the podium is a QR code to take the customer straight to the website page to find out more information about the event and the trainers.

Figure 22 (Author’s own 2021)

MEASURING SUCCESS

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

To measure success of marketing objectives across social media and in-store interactions metrics are used. Metrics work alongside analytics tools to make the process as easy as possible for brands and retailers to measure success within their business. “Social media metrics are important because they prove you can measure how successful a campaign is, how well your social strategy is performing, and ultimately if you will have an impact on your overall business.” (Chen, J 2021) Engagement metrics will be important for this Vans campaign as one of the marketing objectives is, “To generate 50,000 shares, 80,000 impression and 60,000 posts of user-generated content across all social media platforms.” And the engagement metric will be used to measure this. Consumers who are engaged with a brand will generally like, comment and share posts regularly, and high engagement rates will indicate a ‘healthy’ and ‘active’ audience. Using combinations of metrics is the best way to get an overall idea of how well the campaign is doing, not by just using one. Impressions and reach will also be important for Vans to look at during this campaign to see how many consumers the marketing material has impacted. “Impressions are how many times a post shows up in someone’s timeline. Reach is the potential unique viewers a post could have (usually your follower count plus accounts that shared the post’s follower counts).” (Chen, J 2021) The next objectives, “To achieve 10,000 competition entries across the UK.” And “To drive sales of all Vans shoes through competition entries”. To measure these objectives Vans should consider using the footfall in-store metric and average transaction value. Measuring whether these figures have increased during the period of the competition will tell Vans if it is working and encouraging customers to shop with them more or not. To measure the amount of competition entries Vans can measure the traffic on their app, and count the number of competition emails that will be sent out after a customer has purchased a pair of shoes in-store.

To generate 50,000 shares, 80,000 impression and 60,000 posts of user-generated content across all social media platforms.

To achieve 10,000 competition entries across the UK.

To drive sales of all Vans shoes through competition entries.

To re-position Vans as a streetwear brand instead of a skateboarding and sportswear brand.

Figure 24 shows the different types of metrics that can be used to measure success across a campaign and the most important ones for this Vans campaign are: Awareness, decision and adoption. As Vans are trying to market their brand to a new target audience they need to measure who is interacting with their social media and competitions just as much as the actual outcomes and engagement. Measuring website traffic will be another important consideration for Vans during this campaign as this will indicate how many consumers are interested in finding out more about the competition, as well as how many consumers are using the QR codes from the in-store merchandising. Using all of these metrics together will give Vans a good idea of how successful their new campaign is and if they have achieved their marketing objectives, as well as how many consumers have got involved with their social media posts and have created user-generated content.

Figure 24 (Sprout Social 2021)

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