Title	STAN YOURSELF
Brand	ADIDAS
Product/Service	STAN SMITH SNEAKER
Category	A09. LAUNCH OR RE-LAUNCH
PR Agency	JUNG RELATIONS Stockholm, SWEDEN
Entrant Company	JUNG RELATIONS Stockholm, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Alexander Stempel	Jung Relations	Advisor
Sofia Karlsson	Jung Relations	Advisor
Martin Abrahamsson	Jung Relations	Account Director
Fredrik Manuel Persson	Jung Relations	Producer
Jacob Von Corswant	Jung Relations	Creative
Lamin Sonko	Jung Relations	Pr/Assistant

The Campaign

Stan Smith is a shoe that’s immortal – but sadly its fans aren’t. How do you rejuvenate this iconic sneaker and make a choosy younger generation take it into their hearts? When the Stans suddenly disappeared from the market they were nowhere to be seen for two years. In 2014, we got the assignment to re-launch the shoe and introduce it to a new audience. We let a new generation of tastemakers that have no connection to Stan Smith be part of the brand by stylizing their portraits in the iconic Stan Smith manner. Stan Smith became the most sought-after sneaker of the season while at the same time establishing a longstanding relationship with a new group of consumers. Usually, in campaigns like this, it’s customary to buy glossy ads and put the product on a celeb. We chose a different approach; without any media investment, but with careful planning and mapping out the tastemaker food chain, we knew that those influencers wanted to be a part of the Stan Smith brand – letting the young and hip crowd get their 15 minutes of Stan. Shoe sold out in ten days. 90% of our top influencers posted a stanified portrait of themselves in their social channels – 8 350 000 reach. 90% coverage in pre-defined top tier media. 1 500 limited Stan Youself images were made through our app – all made by hand – thousands more applied. 40 000 likes, comments and shares on Instagram. adidas Instagram increased 310%.

The Brief

Campaign success would be measured on four key variables: First, achieve coverage in 50% of pre-defined top tier media. Second, 75% key message penetration – Stan is Back – in top tier media pieces Third, increase adidas Instagram with 100%. And last but not least, a whopping 90% sell-through rate during the campaign period.

Results

Publicity: Out of our pre-defined top tier media, we achieved coverage in 90% with a 100% key message penetration. Coverage included stories in the national dailies, and the born again Stan Smith (yes, the shoe) was discussed on the morning television news. Engagement: 90% of our pre-defined top influencers posted a stanified portrait in their channels. The seeding part of campaign alone gave us a 8 350 000 reach of which 2 300 000 came from Instagram. adidas Instagram increased 310% during the campaign. Sales: Shoe sold out in 10 days – a 100% sell-through rate. The Swedish Trade Federation stated that one of the key factors for the 11,6 % increase compared to previous year for all shoe sales in Sweden in Q1 2014 was the return of Stan Smith.

Execution

By pinpointing top influencers and getting them to wear the shoes, we made sure they were the ones making the buzz in fashion and trend outlets online. The Stan Smith tongue (on the shoe, not the man himself) has the most distinctive and iconic look in sneaker history – Stan Smith’s stylized portrait, green on white. We stanified our core tastemakers’ portraits in this iconic manner, and sent them printed posters, thus generating organic spread in sweet spot outlets. At the same time we placed the shoe in top tier media, both long and short-lead. For broad outreach – two weeks after campaign initiation – we launched an application where everyone could stanify their portrait and show it off in social media platforms. Making a sport of it, we also announced that one lucky stanified winner would get a pair of custom-made shoes with their portrait on the tongue.

The Situation

Stan Smith is a shoe that’s immortal – but sadly its fans aren’t. How do you rejuvenate this iconic sneaker and make a choosy younger generation take it into their hearts? When the Stans suddenly disappeared from the market in 2012 they were nowhere to be seen on the shelves for two years. In 2014, we got the assignment to re-launch the shoe and introduce it to a new audience.

The Strategy

The generation of the seventies and eighties were pretty much already in the bag – they are loyal to the brand and have always worn the shoe with pride. Our main challenge was to establish the Stan Smith as the iconic model it is, in the minds of young tastemakers. We decided that the way to success was to invite the target audience not only to interact with the brand but making them a part of the brand. This was something that would require a great deal of courage from the client, letting go of the control of their crown jewel: the iconic Stan Smith logo. This way, we would make Stan Smith’s relevant for an audience that’s not one bit interested in vintage tennis merits, but rather looking fresh in clubs and on social platforms.