Vans Vans: Win-Win

A lot of times, it’s right there in front of you.

But, as any of us who’ve been doing this marketing thing for a bit can attest, that doesn’t necessarily mean you get to take the shot.

Budgets. ROI. ROAS. CPC. Engagement rates.

Once in awhile, just go with it.

What the heck am I talking about? Vans Vans, of course. You can read more about it here, but the beauty is that the idea sounds exactly as one might suspect it to be.

Vans, the “off the wall” sneaker brand, took to the streets of NYC with two giant Vans Vans. Larger-than-life 10-ft mobile sneakers/vehichles carrying NYC influencers and more for the ride.

What I love? The “old school-ness” of it and the tie to the product proposition (cold weather and street coming together). As Vans’ creative director describes it, “a product demo meets product test drive.”

What I'm not crazy about? I first saw this via a lot of ad/creative types I respect on LinkedIn. Probably not the first priority for the brand, but it speaks to the strength of the idea/execution (no matter how “obvious”). Finding it anywhere else? Not as easy. From initial take, this should’ve been cut-sliced-diced and distributed across all platforms and have been finding its way into targeted earned media by now, not to mention more social pick-up.

Perhaps we can expect to see more this week as “the brand will also be posting social media content captured throughout the activation on its social channels, giving fans outside of NYC a chance to get a taste of the unexpected magic.”

We’ll keep an eye out, but we tip our hat for the effort.