Timberland

Summary

Brand searches and awareness of Timberland was declining. To reverse this, we radically refocused media investment, prioritising high-revenue markets and targeting Creative Doers—trendsetters and cultural leaders. A disrupt-and-sustain strategy combined high-impact OOH, murals, and flyposting in London and Milan’s cultural hubs, followed by always-on digital and social to embed the brand in everyday culture. The result? +7pp aided awareness, 51% YoY brand search growth, and triple-digit sales growth. A bold, media-first transformation that reinforced the iconic status of the Timberland brand by leveraging its iconic Yellow Boot.

Background

A brand in need of focus

Timberland is an icon—a staple of hip-hop, street culture, and functional fashion. But by 2023, it was chasing multiple markets, diluting its voice, and struggling to stay relevant.

The result? A steady decline in brand searches—down mid-single digits YoY globally and a double-digit drop in the UK.

The threat was real: Timberland risked becoming a brand of the past rather than an essential part of the present and future.

Our challenge was clear: how do we restore the brand as a cultural cornerstone while future-proofing its appeal?

Strategy

A high-stakes media reset

Timberland didn’t need a new product—it needed to celebrate its heritage. And to do that, we had to be ruthless with media.

Rather than spreading investment too thin, we radically reallocated resources, prioritising the two markets with the greatest revenue potential. Our outcomes-based planning approach allowed us to make a bold decision to halt spending in two core markets—a strategic risk that ultimately paid off.

In partnership with Timberland, we redefined the brand's audience under the concept of Creative Doers—trendsetters, designers, and cultural pioneers. This wasn’t just a demographic shift—it was a mindset shift, moving the brand's association from outdoors activities like hiking to outside use as streetwear. We built media placements around where Creative Doers lived, worked, and influenced others.

How we made media the story

• Hyper-targeted placements in cultural epicenters like Shoreditch (London) and Brera (Milan) turned physical spaces into brand statements.
• Disrupt and sustain: A high-impact launch (murals, OOH, TV, flyposting) to grab attention, followed by always-on OLV and social to embed the brand into everyday culture.
• Performance-led brand media: Unlike a traditional brand campaign, we fused brand media into performance planning, aligning activity with seasonality and real-time data.

Execution

Making an icon unmissable

We didn’t just show up in media—we made Timberland impossible to ignore.

A bold, disruptive launch

• Larger-than-life murals turned city streets into storytelling platforms.
• Flyposting campaigns reclaimed underground urban spaces, mirroring the brand’s grassroots rise in hip-hop culture.
• TV and digital put iconic brand talent front and center, using high-impact visuals to command attention.

Sustained cultural presence

• OLV and social placements maintained momentum with an emphasis on a frequency-based approach - prioritised over reach - to avoid fatigue.
• Paid and organic media synergy amplified organic engagement, ensuring the Yellow Boot dominated conversation, particularly around key events like London and Paris fashion weeks.
• Data-driven media planning ensured each platform played a precise role—every impression was engineered for maximum brand recall.

Results

Media transformation at work

Our campaign didn’t just drive results—it set the foundation for long-term brand growth.

• +7pp lift in aided awareness (smashing our 2.9pp target!)
• +51% YoY increase in brand searches (proving brand relevance was reignited)
• Triple-digit growth in Yellow Boot sales (commercial impact, not just perception shift)
• Single-digit aided awareness increase in the UK (a critical turnaround market)
• Triple-digit YoY increase in web traffic sales (showing sustained consumer interest)

This wasn’t just a media plan - it was a full-scale brand revival, demonstrating that bold, outcomes-based planning approaches deliver powerful results.