Keds
Reframing a classic for a new generation
AGENCY
TOTH + Co.
Adam & Co,
TEAM
Creative Direction
Mike Toth Chief Creative Officer
Karen Hite Creative Director/Art
Adam Larson Creative Director/Art
Lisa Taylor Creative Director/Copy
Photography
Dewey Nicks
We Are The Rhoads
Production
Katie Hinchey
Danny Caldicott
Yvonne Barriga
ROLE
Design
Art Direction
As the lead designer for the Keds account, I oversaw the design, creative execution, and visual evolution across all touchpoints for five seasons.
Keds had become a distant memory with its prior acclaim as Jennifer Grey’s footwear in Dirty Dancing. Our challenge was to establish them as a global fashion brand, reclaim icon status, and encourage the sense of individual style that Keds was once known for.
The “Calling All Brave Girls” campaign expressed both the overall brand sentiment and a call to action for a new online experience, Bravehearts.com, where girls could share their sense of style and personal stories. This digital-first campaign was part of an overall multi-media campaign of digital, social, video, print, mall media, promotion, and retail components to be used in key markets around the globe.
The Bravehearts.com website was designed to fuel engagement, content creation and provide a significant source of earned media for Keds. Taylor Swift embodied the brand’s brave new spirit: confident, enduring, iconic, eternally optimistic, all-American, and a fashion leader with a story of personal courage. Taylor was to be Brave Girl #1, accelerating a meaningful connection to young women and a strong brand association.
For the design of the ads, we were tasked with incorporating Taylor’s signature, her lucky number 13, Keds’ own signature tread texture, and their seasonal color palette. Working closely with my creative director, we devised a system that could flex and adapt to accommodate various configurations of images—some for specific ad buys, some to feature specific retailers. All of the headlines were sourced from submissions to the campaign hub, Bravehearts.com.
In addition to the design of the ads, I assisted in photo art direction of shot & prop setups. For example, we selected the prayer flag setup to infuse a feel-good display of brave girl dreams, but also as a vibrantly colored backdrop that could play off Keds’ seasonal palette.
This booth was the first deliverable I was tasked with creating at Toth. It was featured at every one of Taylor’s RED tour concerts as a way to get fans to engage with the brand and showcase product in a relevant way. I created all the signage, rugs, and backdrops, as well as the design for the “Spin to Win” iPad game for a chance to win a pair of Keds (and keep concert excitement high).
RESULTS
1.1 billion media impressions
Product shipments increased by 41%
Retail door penetration doubled
Keds.com site traffic +120%
Sales increased by 74%
Total campaign efforts – inclusive of paid, earned, and owned media – yielded over 1.1 billion impressions and over 1 million YouTube views
Product sell-through at key retailers +198%
Business doubled over three years
The Bravehearts campaign maximized the impact of Taylor Swift as the new face of Keds, while establishing a platform that allowed Keds to expand into new categories, including apparel.