Timberland makes your city greener

Figure 1: Timberland's fall 2019 campaign

The American outwear retailer, Timberland is renowned not only for its iconic yellow boot but also for its devotion to social responsibility, which has never been a quality in their promotional campaigns. A strong advocate for climate crisis, the brand elects for products which are responsibly manufactured with recycled and renewable products (Timberland, 2019a).

Timberland’s constant message of embracing the outdoors and rehabilitating the environment is, for the time, addressed in their fall 2019 experiential marketing promotional ventures. This allows Timberland to encourage their consumers to create a greener future and address the current consumer zeitgeist of climate crisis. Creating this experiential marketing campaign engages consumers “through two-way communications that bring brand personalities to life” (Smilansky, 2009, p.5).

Figure 2: Timberland Urban Greening

It is essential for brands to create a brand experience, highlighting its messages and values whilst connecting and strengthening its perception regarding its consumers (Posner, 2015, p.139). Nature Needs Heroes campaign is hosting greening events centred around creating greener cities whilst educating the public and highlighting the importance of societies obligation to repair the planet. Located around urban hubs, such as New York, London, Paris and Milan (Mahoney, 2019). As Schmitt (1999) states “experiences occur as a result of encountering, undergoing, or living through certain situations”. By allowing consumers to connect with the brand’s ethos, whilst articulating the impacts of mankind’s modern lifestyle on the planet (Huges, 2019), Timberland is aiming to make greening the future an element of everyday life.

Figure 3: Timberland's experiential marketing experience towards urban greening in London

Arguably it could be stated that these events would not gain the momentum and follower base that it needs to be successfully. However, Timberland were on top of the ball and completely by passed this. The brand employed 12 eco-heroes who are creating a permanent and positive change for their communities and the environment as a whole (Hughes, 2019) to host the events. One of them being Brit and Mercury Nominated Hip-Hop artiest Loyle Carner (Timberland, 2019b). On top of this, the success of the events was established from the energetic and lively atmosphere created by live music and customised workshops for all ages (Eventbite, 2019).

Figure 4: Timberland eco-heroes

Timberland is trying to link emotional characteristics and express feelings through a set of human characteristics associated with the brand as a whole (Jin and Cedrole, 2017). Not only have they accomplished to do such through their experiential marketing experiences but through their cause related marketing strategy. Associated with the fall 2019 campaign, timberland aspires to plant 50 million tress globally by 2025. This cause related marketing promotes the brand’s image and products in conjunction with climate crisis whilst “enhancing its reputation, demonstrating its values and enlisting consumer loyalty” (Adkins, 1999). Consumers can contribute to the sociocultural problem online and in brick and mortar stores. Whist in store, consumers can pledge one dollar resulting in the brand planting a tree on their behalf and for every customer who opts for free ground shipping a tree will be planted (Timberland, 2019c).

Figure 5, 6 and 7: Timberland's initial sustainability push part of the campaign

Nature Needs Heroes is the brands largest global campaign to date, regarding scope and scale (Lyons, 2019). Aware of its position as a for-profit brand: “one that plants trees, raise awareness and improve the eco credentials of its production line, but also one that needs to sell its own notions of style before it can fund anything else” (Deighton, 2019).

The campaign highlights Timberland as a purpose-led brand. This aims to shift brands towards the triple bottom line theory. Incorporating three dimensions of performance: Profit (economic), People (social) and Plant (environment) to go beyond the traditional measures of profit and value (Slaper and Hall, 2011). Allowing companies to instil their inherent values, either environmental or social, within their consumers (Marciniak and Charles, 2018). The campaign distinguishes this by focusing equally on fashion and profit (Deighton, 2019).

Figure 8: The goal of the Nature Needs Heroes campaign

So what are you waiting for? Pull on your boots and be the change.

Reference List

Adkins, S. 1999. Cause Related Marketing Who Cares Wins. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Deighton, K. 2019. ‘We’re Not Activists’: Timberland Distinguished Its Eco Focus in First ‘Truly’ Global Push. [Online]. [Accessed 23 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/09/05/were-not-activists-timberland-distinguishes-its-eco-focus-first-truly-global-push

Eventbite. 2019. Nature Needs Heroes Breaking Ground Community Event. [Online]. [Accessed 24 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nature-needs-heroes-breaking-ground-community-event-tickets-72509216017

Hughes, H. 2019. Timberland Pledges to Plant 50 Million Trees By 2025. [Online]. Accessed 25 November 2019]. Available From: https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/timberland-pledges-to-plant-50-million-trees-by-2025/2019090645140

Jin, B. and Cedrola, E. 2017. Fashion Branding and Communication: Core Strategies of European Luxury Brands. New York: Palgrave Pivot

Lynos, E. 2019. Why Timberland is Planting 50 Million Trees. [Online]. [Accessed 16 December 2019]. Available From: https://www.marketingweek.com/timberland-sustainability-marketing-campaign/

Mahoney, S. 2019. Timberland Taps Eco-Heroes, Plants 50 Million Trees. [Online]. [Accessed 23 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/340509/timberland-taps-eco-heroes-plants-50-million-tree.html

Marciiak, R. and Charles, E. 2018. Fashion and Lifestyle Brands: Story-Telling within Purpose-Led Brand in Order to Contribute To Growth and Boost the Bottom-Line. 4th International Colloquium on Design, Branding and Marketing, 6-7 December 2018, Haasselt University Belgium. [Online]. pp. 55-62. [Accessed 26 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Katelijn_Quartier/publication/332320506_CONFERENCE_PROCEEDINGS_ICDBM_2018_Experience_and_value_creation_in_design_branding_and_marketing/links/5cadbc38a6fdcc4764e8c736/CONFERENCE-PROCEEDINGS-ICDBM-2018-Experience-and-value-creation-in-design-branding-and-marketing.pdf#page=55

Posner, H. 2015. Marketing Fashion: Strategy, Branding and Promotion. 2nd ed. London, United Kingdom: Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

Schmitt, B. 1999. Experiential Marketing. Design Management Journal. 10(2)

pp10-16.

Slapper, T. and Hall, T. 2011. The Triple Bottom Line: What Is It and How Does It Work?. Indiana Business Review. 86(1), pp4-8.

Smilansky, S. 2009. Experiential marketing a practical guide to interactive brand experiences. London, Kogan Page.

Timberland. 2019a. Responsibility – Better Product. [Online]. [Accessed 24 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.co.uk/en_gb/responsibility/product.html

Timberland, 2019b. Nature Needs Heroes. [Online]. [Accessed 16 December 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.co.uk/en_gb/treehouse/nature-needs-heroes.html

Timberland, 2019c. Responsibility – Greener World – Plant the Change. [Online]. [Accessed 23 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.co.uk/en_gb/responsibility/stories/plant-the-change.html#banner=F19_02.TREE_PLANTING.NNH_LANDING_PAGE.CTA1

WWD. 2019. The Best Fashion Ad Campaigns of Fall 2019. [Online]. [Accessed 23 November 2019]. Available From: https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/gallery/the-best-fashion-ad-campaigns-of-spring-1203152420/the-best-fashion-ad-campaigns-of-fall-2019-timberland/

Figures List

Figure 1: Timberland. 2019. Responsibility. [Online]. [Accessed 25 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.com/responsibility.html

Figure 2: Timberland. 2019. Timberland Urban Greening | Timberland. [Online]. [Accessed 16 December 2019]. Available From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3CdaBYdfo

Figure 3: Timberland. 2019. Timberland Presents Concrete Green with Loyle Carner. [Online]. [Accessed 23 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOQsgdDrV0s

Figure 4: Shah, A. 2019. Timberland’s Eco-heroes. [Video]. At: Leeds: Leeds University.

Figure 5: Timberland. 2019. Nature Needs Heroes. [Online]. [Accessed 25 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.com/nature-needs-heroes.html

Figure 5: Timberland. 2019. Nature Needs Heroes. [Online]. [Accessed 25 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.com/nature-needs-heroes.html

Figure 6: Timberland. 2019. Plant the Change. [Online]. [Accessed 25 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.com/responsibility/stories/plant-the-change.html

Figure 8: Timberland. 2019. Nature Needs Heroes. [Online]. [Accessed 29 November 2019]. Available From: https://www.timberland.com/nature-needs-heroes.html