Originals Sport Pack Collection – – Clarks® Shoes Official Site (clarksusa.com)
A few months ago Ronnie Fieg dropped a collection with Clarks. I hadn’t heard of the models before Fieg delivered his version of the shoes, but I also avoided Instagram and relied heavily on brand websites to discover information. Brands are notorious for relying heavily on social media, because it’s where the people are. The more potential consumers you can reach, the better, right? It makes sense for a brand to roll out a new model with a popular persona right?
The Lockhill and Sandford came into the world via collaboration, but Clarks is rolling out a second collection of the models in what they are calling their Sport Pack and there isn’t a cosign connected. There isn’t an IG campaign or a lot of pictures available. The models are not showing considerable broken sizes and sell through. Does this mean that without Fieg, these models are considered wack? Not necessarily.
When a brand collaborates with an influencer or designer, they make a concerted effort to deliver imagery and copy to highlight that collaboration. When you add that the designer also owns one of the most popular retail outlets and has a considerable following, the brand captures a variety of potential consumers making the collab appear to be more important than a general release. When you factor in the limited nature of the drop, it drives more engagement.
Here is the thing… The Ronnie Fieg 8th Street had at least ten “touchpoints” and a host of marketing material. This latest 8th Street drop only has a splash page on Clarks and a scroll through Instagram and Facebook doesn’t deliver a single item of merchandising. Fieg utilized bolder color blocking and the hangtag has his logo, but beyond that, the shoe isn’t really that different. The major difference in the two collections?
Ronnie Fieg did the heavy lifting via his social and with this landing page:
8th St by Ronnie Fieg for Clarks Originals – Kith
This new collection, doesn’t feature Fieg’s colors or his hangtags, and Clarks didn’t update the information on the page. It isn’t clear if this collection is still from the 8th Street collection or if Clarks is now delivering options in their own colors. What is evident is that these beautiful sneakers are going under the radar pretty much. Which is really an interesting discussion, leading me to this final question: Are collabs successful because of the collaborator or is the emphasis placed on the collab and the limited nature driving the interest?