Converse Advertising Campaign
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What?
The ask was to create a fresh advertising campaign to launch Converse in an untapped market.
Who?
Our intended target for this campaign is Generation X dads. We hope to incite a sense of nostalgia within these consumers in order to reignite their love for Converse. They grew up watching their favorite athletes wear these shoes and we hope our “Back to Chuck” campaign transports them back in time.
Big Idea:
Reminding dads through humor and relatability that Converse are still a style they can wear regardless of their age and interests.
Research Insights:
We sent our survey out to over 100 friends, peers, and family members ranging from ages 9 to 75. We got a total of 108 completed surveys.
From the responses, we gathered 80% of these respondents have owned Converse (past and present). Over 71% of the respondents got their first pair of Converse when they were 15 years old or younger. However, only 47% of those respondents are still wearing their Converse.
The top answer for why participants bought converse was due to the “style and trendiness” of the brand. When asking participants how often they wear Converse, the answer discrepancy was wide. 43% of participants said that they rarely or never wear converse and 35% said that they wear them daily or at least once a week. When asked about the negative features surrounding Converse, the majority of participants said they have never had an issue with Converse. The only significant con regarding the shoe was the comfort level, according to 33% of survey respondents.
Target Market (Gen X) Insights:
56% of this age demographic purchased athletic shoes in the past 24 months. Generation X makes up 37.2% of total consumers wearing Converse basketball shoes (Consumer Brand Analytics, 2019).
These consumers are not interested in being trendsetters, but instead, want assurance that the products and services they pay for are worth the cost. This drives them to invest in tried and true brands rather than those unknown (Mintel, 2020).
Gen X parents are facing difficult emotions as their children grow up and become more independent. They prefer advertisements that address these feelings with humor, rather than sappy or emotional advertisements. (Mintel, 2022)
Creative Brief:
Campaign Strategy and Rationale:
Overall Concept:
The focus of our campaign was “Back to Chuck.” Our group originally wanted to focus on the nostalgia of the classic Converse style resonating with our target audience. We then narrowed our focus to center on dads, and the stereotypical humor that comes with dads.
Design Elements:
Another aspect we kept consistent throughout our campaign was notebook paper which we used to cohesively tie together all our advertisements. The notebook paper is used to compliment the play on words of our tagline, “Back to Chuck” inspired by the “Back to school” taglines.
Tagline:
Our tagline “Back to Chuck” is a play on words of the classic “Back to school” campaign. Our goal was to remind our target audience of when they were going back to school and wearing their Chucks.
Back-to-school campaigns have been an iconic, classic staple every summer to fall season that our target is all too familiar with. With our tagline, we also wanted to insinuate that Chucks are still in style, and cool to wear even at their age. We want our target to bring them back into their everyday wardrobe.
Campaign Message Objectives:
Brand Recall: Repetition
Repeating Converse's name through ads on multiple platforms
Persuade the Consumer: Comparison Ad
Comparing Converse's style to other shoe options typically worn by the target
Affect Association: Humor
Creating a sense of humor and nostalgia in our target's mind
Print Advertisements:
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For our print ads, we decided to keep a cohesive theme for each by creating a “dad starter pack". We then included a pair of Converse with the copy reading “old soul meets new soles” to encourage dads that Converse can fit right into their style choices while also maintaining their old soul personality.
Out-of-Home Advertisements:
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Billboard:
Whether the audience is driving or walking by they will be able to recognize the shoe and the brand very quickly. For the headline, we chose “Be The Cool Dad” because it uses a direct approach to our target.
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Bus Transit:
Comparing a typical "dad" shoe to Converse allows our target to visualize that Converse is a more fashionable "cool" option.
Social Media Advertisements:
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For the social media component of the project, we decided to use Facebook as one of our social media platforms. Facebook currently has over three Billion users and is the most used social media platform of our target market of Gen X (Mintel,2022). Facebook offers five different types of advertisements on its site: photo, video, story, instant experience, and carousel.
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Guerilla Marketing:
TSA Bins:
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Airport Steps:
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Since passengers are required by TSA to have to physically take off their shoes and put them into these trays, we thought we could take this opportunity to draw attention to their shoe choices. We also decided to add another component of advertising in the airport by placing converse “shoe prints” along different airport areas, from bag checks to TSA check lines. The shoeprints are accompanied by our tagline, “Back to Chuck, one step at a time” The purpose of this component is to spark the attention of the passengers to Converse while they are walking in the airport
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Our idea behind advertising in airports was that our target market 45% of our target market, Gen X’ers, have reported that they have traveled more than years past in the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunity of working remotely.
TV Advertisement:
For our Converse commercial, our goal was to poke fun at bad dad fashion using the strategy of humor, turning “bad fashion” and dads trying to be cool into something to laugh about. Converse has been around for years and was the shoe our target audience wore when they were young. The shoe carries a sentimental value to our audience, and our job was to remind them that they are still comfortable yet still in style.
Brand Product Placement:
Setting the scene: Cobra Kai is a spin-off of the 1980’s classic movie franchise, The Karate Kid. Cobra Kai brings back Ralph Macchio and William Zabka to reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Taking place years later, still rivals, facing off as competing dojos in the valley. This episode, Back in Black, takes place after Johnny’s dojo won the All-Valley tournament. He and his star student Miguel feel on top of the world.
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Scene 1 and Scene 2: Johnny and Miguel are prepping for their day as champions after the All-Valley tournament. In the getting ready scene at their dojo, the scene cuts to their new car being upgraded. Johnny and Miguel are doing sit-ups in their apartments with their classic Converse shoes in the back next to their dojo gear.
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Scene 3: Miguel is ready to leave the house to meet up with Johnny. In the background, there is an old-school Converse poster hanging up in his room, alongside his other artistic posters.
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Scene 4: Johnny and Miguel put their sunglasses on and meet up outside their apartments with their Converse on, ready to conquer the day as champions. The rock music montage cuts and Johnny says, “Nice Chucks” Miguel replies, “You mean my Converse?” Johnny says, “Yeah. Whatever”
Why: Our target audience seeks the feeling of nostalgia and that’s what this successful spin-off brings to the table. Johnny Lawrence is portrayed as Miguel’s father figure. He is not just a father figure, but a cool father figure; from his wardrobe to his mannerisms. The placement would be integrated throughout the entire episode with them wearing their Converse during their training session. The Converse shoe accurately portrays the wardrobe styles of the characters throughout the entire show, making it the perfect fit as a brand product placement
Viral Video:
Click here to see the complete campaign!
Created with Anna Thornton, Maddie Edwards, Lauren Nordseth, and Camille Duong
Designed in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop Indesign, and Final Cut Pro
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My role: Guerilla Marketing, Social Media, Strategist/ Creative
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