Skechers Marketing Program Steps Out

In today’s market, getting the message out about a product is imperative. Traditional methods remain effective but there’s also a lot of competition. Finding a way to deliver an advertisement in a unique, memorable manner is crucial and becoming increasingly difficult. So, when footwear manufacturer Skechers moved into the entertainment world with its new animated television show Zevo-3, it found its own unique way to publicize the show. Skechers knew that a guaranteed audience could be found inside every shoebox.

“Every year, we reach out to more than 20 million kids who have a Skechers shoebox in their hand,” says Kristen Van Cott, senior vice-president of creative development at Skechers. This year, five million of those shoeboxes contained a DVD preview of Skechers’ new Zevo-3 series. Though the company initially intended to keep the run to one million shoeboxes, the program received such a successful response that Skechers immediately expanded the program.

Combined with traditional outreach methods such as television advertising, in-store promotion, and online advertising, as well as the promotional help of Nickelodeon (which aired the show’s first season on Nicktoons this year), Skechers was able to garner enough interest in the show that the sneak preview in August hit 2.0 on the Nielsen ratings.  “We definitely got the attention of kids,” says Van Cott.

With the success of the program for its own property, Skechers has been offering the shoebox promotion concept to other companies. The new “shoebox space” will be offered to partners and licensees who want a new way to reach the audience. “Clothing licenses, intellectual properties—we haven’t done anything concrete yet, but we’re definitely looking at the options,” says Van Cott. “When you’re on television, a viewer can see 26 different ads for 26 different things. But when you’re in a shoebox, you’re the only game in town.”