How the iconic yellow boot channelled its hip-hop heritage & green consciousness on MTV for a record-breaking Black Friday.
Having seen their consumers get older and competitors starting to steal their thunder, Timberland set out to create a new brand icon, revive the brand's connection to hip-hop culture and bring its sustainable roots back to life. All with a uniquely British flavour. In partnership with the coolest channel on the block MTV, we created a two-part TV series called 'Timberland presents: Concrete Green with Loyle Carner' that would use the power of TV to tell the story of an aspirational young guy making a difference to his local area.
In 2019, Timberland launched 'Nature Needs Heroes' to support their long-term commitment to using recycled, organic & renewable materials in their product. Their global campaign set out to plant 50 million trees in 5 years & greening urban areas to combat climate change & enrich communities. So with Black Friday sales ahead & a fraction of their competitors' budgets, Timberland wanted to make some noise to get young consumers talking about (and wearing) its new Eurosprint Trekker boot.
PHD needed a media partner with the best credentials, significant viewing figures & aligned values to bring the story to life in an AUTHENTIC way that wouldn't be seen as another "green-washing" exercise. Cue MTV. Not only aligned in subject & tone with music & Brit hip-hop shows; MTV had also identified its audience's interest in wokeness & had its own ambitions to commission content in this space. So, the timing was perfect. Using the power of TV, we created long-form content with DRUM to tell the story of an aspirational young rapper making a difference in his community.
Timberland's award-winning campaign achieved concrete business results with:
? An overall sales uplift of 258% for the Eurosprint Trekker.
? Product saw 100% sell-through in most resellers, prompting several re-orders from our biggest accounts.
Of those who saw the show:
? 80% said the programme and initiative gave a good impression of Timberland, 79% said that it showed Timberland was concerned about the environment. (See the attachment for more details.)
<
<