Hush Puppies: Lets get together

Hush Puppies (manufactured and distributed in Pakistan by Firhaj Footwear) launched a new campaign in Pakistan last week, incorporating the international tagline ‘Let’s Get Together’ in the advertising to position itself as a ‘trendy and fun’ brand in order to capture a younger market.

Although Hush Puppies has been distributed in Pakistan since 1995, it only started advertising locally last year (during the Ramazan/Eid period) with a campaign that focused on ‘affordable luxury’.

Hush Puppies and Starcrest Communications (Hush Puppies Creative Agency) tell us more about the new ‘Let’s Get Together’ campaign.

A word from the client – Ahsan Rashid, Head of Retail, Hush Puppies

On why Hush Puppies stared advertising last year: “We realised that although people knew of Hush Puppies, the image in their minds was limited to a brown, comfortable sandal or shoe. Therefore we wanted a strategy to connect with our consumers and create a recall that was not only based on product and brand appeal. We also wanted to re-establish the fact that Hush Puppies is an international brand.”

On incorporating the international tagline ‘let’s get together’ in the new campaign: “When we started building our brand we were going for a very local appeal. We launched our first campaign in 2012 and advertised our slippers and sandals focusing on ‘comfort’. Although this had impact and we got a lot of sales, after this campaign we felt that we were ignoring the fact that our customers know Hush Puppies as an international brand. Therefore, in our new campaign, we decided to use part of our international tagline.”

A word from the agency – Huma Mobin, Creative Director, Starcrest Communications

On the change in Hush Puppies’ positioning: “Hush Puppies is registered in consumers’ minds as an affordable luxury and this has been doing pretty well for the brand. However, we found a major flaw in the brand’s image in the local market. Internationally it is associated with young people, but in Pakistan, we only heard of Hush Puppies from an older age group who are very brand loyal. When asked why young people don’t consider visiting Hush Puppies stores, their answer was that the brand doesn’t speak to them. So we developed a concept and campaign that formed that connection with this new market and since Hush Puppies is developing new products for fashion conscious people, it was only wise that the brand get registered as the ‘Hip, trendy and fun’ brand.”