Company does well by doing good in launch of eco-conscious footwear

Sperry undertook a content marketing campaign to introduce consumers to Sperry BIONIC, a collection of the company’s already-popular boat shoes and sneakers made with material spun out of plastic recovered from marine and coastal environments. The campaign to launch Sperry’s partnership with Waterkeeper Alliance and the BIONIC collection has won the “Consumer Products Campaign” category in PR Daily’s Content Marketing Awards.

The campaign’s goals included building awareness about the ocean plastics problem, sharing sustainable solutions to protect waters from future pollution, engaging customers and partners to drive change and (of course) to launch the footwear as part of the solution.

The campaign launched on World Water Day and was live through Earth Day in 2019 (March 22 through April 22), during which many of Sperry’s content assets (including profile photos) were updated to feature a special recycling-inspired logo. Social media efforts targeted users of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Among the campaign’s initiatives were an Instagram takeover; a 60-second animated video titled “Sea to Shoe” (distributed in shorter formats on various social channels, in addition to being used as part of an Instagram Story); paid social media across Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat; GIPHY stickers and GIFs as a fun way to insert Sperry creative into existing conversations on Instagram Stories and Snapchat (the GIFs showcased Sperry’s partnership with a musical artist, Josie Dunne); and influencer outreach to 11 sustainability influencers.

Among other outcomes, Sperry touts the removal of 500,000 plastic water bottles from marine and coastal environments, exceeding the campaign’s goal of 125,000. The campaign also drove a 14% lift in the consumer perception that Sperry “supports causes I care about” compared to the prior season. Engagement rates soared while social media performance exceeded 42 million impressions, 956,000 social video views and 255,000 Snapchat filter shares.

Congratulations to Melissa Romig, Stacy Goodman, Lauren Cary, Julia Shoop, Kate Minner and Edina Sultanik.