Campaign: Reincarnation of the Hunter welly during the 2007 festival season
Client: Hunter Boot Company
PR Team: Sputnik Communications Ltd
Timescale: March - June 2007
Budget: Undisclosed
The new lines failed to sell, leaving the firm with spiralling debts in 2006 and eventually forcing it into administration. In May 2006 a private consortium led by Lord Marland of Odstock bought Hunter and created the new firm Hunter Boot Company to concentrate on its core product.
Objectives
To boost brand awareness and sales. To promote the brand’s heritage as well as its popularity among celebrities as a fashion accessory.
Strategy and plan
Even though the Hunter Rubber Company had financial problems, its wellington boots were a must-have fashion accessory among celebrities such as Kate Moss attending summer music festivals.
Sputnik created a campaign that focused on this celebrity endorsement and focused on this year’s Glastonbury festival.
Activity included a press release that detailed the wellington boot’s popularity among celebrity festival goers being sent to journalists in the weeks leading up to Glastonbury. Dozens of celebrities and performers expected to attend Glastonbury and other festivals, such as the Killers, were sent free Hunter wellies.
Hunter collaborated with Red Bull and American Express to offer limited edition boots to celebrities as part of its on-site promotional activity.?
Measurement and evaluation
In the run up to and during the Glastonbury festival 70 stories either focused on the Hunter brand or mentioned its boots. This included coverage in national newspapers The Guardian and The Independent, as well as magazines Now, Look, Reveal and Grazia.
Typical coverage included Hunter being labelled the ‘Rolls-Royce of wellies’ in The Guardian. A story by Reuters referred to Hunter wellingtons as the ‘ultimate festival chic’, and was covered in Scandinavian, South African and Australian media.
Results
During the period May to July overall sales leapt by 85 per cent against the same period last year.
A number of retailers reported back to Hunter that they had sold out of their Hunter stocks prior to Glastonbury, and Harrods, Top Shop, Urban Outfitters and www.hunter-boots.com all had to order extra stocks. Harrods reported a 300 per cent increase in sales earlier this summer.
