CMO Network #GettingBuzzJUL 14, 2016 @ 05:22 PM

One Hashtag Away From The Promised Land: The Launch of élé INSIDERS A New Shoe Brand

Why would you launch a shoe company with no experience in the industry? And why would you set out to displace the lowly slipper with a better kind of indoor shoe? In my search for counterintuitive business stories Élé Insiders, the brainchild of entrepreneur Jonathan Newman, looked like a poster child.

If the best business ideas start with an insight and an element of surprise, “the aha moment” for Newman, formerly founder of Boston International, took place in Buenos Aires at a small trade show. Amidst all the booths and hype, one stood out for its bright, colorful shoes that defied standard categorization. Not street shoes, but not slippers either. Whatever they were, these shoes were flying off the shelf.

Newman’s train of thought: very cool, stylish, comfortable shoes for in and around the house, but with enough structure from its rubber sole to wear outside. Slippers are boring. These are exciting.Newman had already demonstrated a proven eye for the offbeat and original, and decided to trust his instincts and start a shoe company. His previous company sold luxury gifts and paper goods to the likes of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Marimekko. In these shoes he thought he saw the same three key ingredients for any luxury product: surprise, delight, and totally unique.

Comfortable at best, the slipper has never shaken the world with imagination. And from a business point of view, slippers typically sell in the fourth quarter of the year for the holidays, making for a narrow window of opportunity. The vision for Élé Insiders was a new kind of indoor shoe, casual, fresh, and with a little attitude.

Still, ideas are cheap. Execution and strategy are everything. Before the fun stuff, there were licensing agreements, intellectual property, design, and manufacturing considerations. He tried to manufacture the shoes in the US but ended up in Asia.

Apparently you don’t just waltz into Nordstrom and unload your first shipment of shoes. Newman talked with a handful of executives from the shoe industry and the bleak conclusion was that he faced near impossible odds of getting shelf space in the traditional footwear stores and departments. He’s an upstart with a product that defies the standard categories. He’s also competing with well-defined and well known brands, including customers loyal to Uggs, Toms, Clarks, Sketchers, Keds, and Vans.Given those conditions and low odds of breaking through the competitive noise, Newman made his biggest bet and decided to bypass the footwear channel completely. Instead, he would sell the shoe into the gift market where he had experience and past success. Inexpensive fashion accessories have become big business in the gift market. Socks are big sellers. Why not try shoes?

But this meant that the shoes had to sell themselves. This led to transparent packaging so that customers could see the shoes displayed on racks.

If you can call one person a sales force, Élé Insiders began to appear in gift stores in the fall of September 2015. Sales were steady and they caught the wave of holiday shoppers. The second front was to go direct to consumer through social media.

I forgot to mention one critical point about this story. Newman had virtually no marketing budget. It was all social media with a miniscule spend on Facebook and Instagram. His intent was to put the shoes on the feet of students, fashion bloggers, home cooks, and healthcare workers. It was lonely work, one relationship at a time. But those relationships began to multiply, friend telling friend, pictures posted on Instagram. Sales from the gift market remained modest but steady. Online sales began to grow.

Then a watershed event. Daily Grommet discovered the shoes in their quest for interesting new products and featured them on their Web site. A big wave of sales followed and Newman at last had his proof of concept.

The question remains: How far can you go without a significant marketing budget? As Newman put it, sometimes he feels like he is “one hashtag away from the promised land.” These days Kardashian levels of activity on social media are reserved for celebrities and major events. While social platforms give the startup a voice, it’s still a small voice in a big forest.

The greatest return on his social media efforts may be the stories that come back to Newman. On a weekly and increasingly daily basis he’s hearing from his customers. The home cooks who love to wear Élé Insiders in the kitchen and healthcare providers, but mostly students and young people who pass along their endorsement.

After almost a year of staying outside the traditional shoe channel, the industry is starting to take notice. A couple of large retailers have begun to make inquiries and look more closely. Keep your eyes open. Élé Insiders may be headed to shoe stores near you in the near future.Newman has not yet made it to the promised land, and there have been plenty of twists and turns along the way. But that’s marketing. It’s not where you start the journey. It’s where you end up.

Phil Johnson is the CEO of PJA Advertising. Follow him on Twitter @philjohnson, and check out the Unconventionals podcast.

Credit: élé INSIDERS®

CMO Network #GettingBuzzJUL 14, 2016 @ 05:22 PM

One Hashtag Away From The Promised Land: The Launch of élé INSIDERS A New Shoe Brand

Why would you launch a shoe company with no experience in the industry? And why would you set out to displace the lowly slipper with a better kind of indoor shoe? In my search for counterintuitive business stories Élé Insiders, the brainchild of entrepreneur Jonathan Newman, looked like a poster child.

If the best business ideas start with an insight and an element of surprise, “the aha moment” for Newman, formerly founder of Boston International, took place in Buenos Aires at a small trade show. Amidst all the booths and hype, one stood out for its bright, colorful shoes that defied standard categorization. Not street shoes, but not slippers either. Whatever they were, these shoes were flying off the shelf.

Newman’s train of thought: very cool, stylish, comfortable shoes for in and around the house, but with enough structure from its rubber sole to wear outside. Slippers are boring. These are exciting.Newman had already demonstrated a proven eye for the offbeat and original, and decided to trust his instincts and start a shoe company. His previous company sold luxury gifts and paper goods to the likes of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Marimekko. In these shoes he thought he saw the same three key ingredients for any luxury product: surprise, delight, and totally unique.

Comfortable at best, the slipper has never shaken the world with imagination. And from a business point of view, slippers typically sell in the fourth quarter of the year for the holidays, making for a narrow window of opportunity. The vision for Élé Insiders was a new kind of indoor shoe, casual, fresh, and with a little attitude.

Still, ideas are cheap. Execution and strategy are everything. Before the fun stuff, there were licensing agreements, intellectual property, design, and manufacturing considerations. He tried to manufacture the shoes in the US but ended up in Asia.

Apparently you don’t just waltz into Nordstrom and unload your first shipment of shoes. Newman talked with a handful of executives from the shoe industry and the bleak conclusion was that he faced near impossible odds of getting shelf space in the traditional footwear stores and departments. He’s an upstart with a product that defies the standard categories. He’s also competing with well-defined and well known brands, including customers loyal to Uggs, Toms, Clarks, Sketchers, Keds, and Vans.Given those conditions and low odds of breaking through the competitive noise, Newman made his biggest bet and decided to bypass the footwear channel completely. Instead, he would sell the shoe into the gift market where he had experience and past success. Inexpensive fashion accessories have become big business in the gift market. Socks are big sellers. Why not try shoes?

But this meant that the shoes had to sell themselves. This led to transparent packaging so that customers could see the shoes displayed on racks.

If you can call one person a sales force, Élé Insiders began to appear in gift stores in the fall of September 2015. Sales were steady and they caught the wave of holiday shoppers. The second front was to go direct to consumer through social media.

I forgot to mention one critical point about this story. Newman had virtually no marketing budget. It was all social media with a miniscule spend on Facebook and Instagram. His intent was to put the shoes on the feet of students, fashion bloggers, home cooks, and healthcare workers. It was lonely work, one relationship at a time. But those relationships began to multiply, friend telling friend, pictures posted on Instagram. Sales from the gift market remained modest but steady. Online sales began to grow.

Then a watershed event. Daily Grommet discovered the shoes in their quest for interesting new products and featured them on their Web site. A big wave of sales followed and Newman at last had his proof of concept.

The question remains: How far can you go without a significant marketing budget? As Newman put it, sometimes he feels like he is “one hashtag away from the promised land.” These days Kardashian levels of activity on social media are reserved for celebrities and major events. While social platforms give the startup a voice, it’s still a small voice in a big forest.

The greatest return on his social media efforts may be the stories that come back to Newman. On a weekly and increasingly daily basis he’s hearing from his customers. The home cooks who love to wear Élé Insiders in the kitchen and healthcare providers, but mostly students and young people who pass along their endorsement.

After almost a year of staying outside the traditional shoe channel, the industry is starting to take notice. A couple of large retailers have begun to make inquiries and look more closely. Keep your eyes open. Élé Insiders may be headed to shoe stores near you in the near future.Newman has not yet made it to the promised land, and there have been plenty of twists and turns along the way. But that’s marketing. It’s not where you start the journey. It’s where you end up.

Phil Johnson is the CEO of PJA Advertising. Follow him on Twitter @philjohnson, and check out the Unconventionals podcast.