Maybe if you build it they will come after all…
Vans, the seminal skater (sk8r) sneaker brand now owned by VF Corporation (client at a previous agency), has done something the import of which has yet to be fully understood. Behold the House Of Vans.
Their own site doesn’t do the space justice so please be sure you go here and watch the video.
I call this “neo-content marketing” because it goes way beyond a brand telling a story, and way beyond encouraging consumers to tell their own stories. “Neo-Content Marketing” happens when a brand goes beyond the normal ways of story-telling and content creation to deliver a brand promise through an inimitable experience. It goes beyond pop-up stores and other, temporary, experiential efforts. It even tops Converse’s Rubber Tracks music studio in Brooklyn, NY.
Vans has done exactly that. And more.
With this move Vans buys preeminent positioning among their target audience as well as brand enthusiasts for being “underground” (literally and in every sense that it means in the UK public transit vernacular) and supportive of the creative scene. The space succeeds in keeping the SoCal flavor of the brand in a place as far away from sand, beaches and sun as you can get: London, 5 stories below the charming web of streets. Even the simple act of going to the space and re-emerging when you;re ready to go home gets to the heart of the brand.
Plus, it’s wicked cool.
Watch for more examples of neo-content marketing as brands continue to discover new, innovative ways of being one with their stakeholders, both long-standing and desired.
As usual, thanks to @PSFK for breaking this really interesting story.
Editor’s note: As news of Bud Light’s planned takeover of a town – and the townspeople’s apparent reticence regarding the plan – broke this week, we can all be reminded about how NOT to go about creating a “neo-content marketing” event. See also the very thoughtful observation below from Stefanie Kobsa about Red Bull and how they go about things.
2 Comments
This is a very interesting topic. Thanks a lot for covering it! While I like the idea of “neo content marketing”, I was wondering whether this is not similar to what Red Bull has been doing for quite some time now. In your opinion, would you say that Vans’s marketing strategy is comparable to Red Bull’s version of content marketing? In other words, how “big” or “extensive” does a marketing-strategy have to be, in order to qualify as “neo content marketing”? I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Thanks for your kind words! I agree that Red Bull is WAY ahead of the curve when it comes to content marketing. That said, Red Bull tends to not want to get its hands dirty with “ownership,” they tend to stick to sponsorship, putting their name on experiences that others do. As I think on it it applies to their work with F1 (2 teams!), the guy that parachuted from space, and the Flugtag. They focus on creating sharable content, where Vans is actually owning an “experience” that I have. Put another way, Seb Vettel is not going to let me drive his car but Vans is happy to let me skate in their bespoke cavern under London. Thanks again for your great questions and great observations.