Live from PROMO Live: Brainstorming Big Ideas
Big ideas start from small concepts, even jelly shoes.
Made famous in the 1980s, those plastic, bright-colored shoes have long since made their mark in fashion. But with a little creative brainstorming and a full-scale marketing and promotions plan behind them, the shoes could become the next big idea, Jim McCafferty, president and CEO of JMP Creative, told workshop attendees yesterday.
Teams devised a series of marketing campaigns and promotional tie-ins as part of a fictitious exercise to bring back the infamous jelly shoes. One team developed a campaign around the tagline, “All I need are my jellies.” In it, basketball players, nuns, celebrities could walk the streets of New York City wearing the shoes to spread the world about the jellies’ comeback. A contest overlay could have consumers spotting golden- or ruby-colored jelly shoes (think a tie-in to The Wizard of Oz) to win prizes.
In another example, attendees suggested a contest around the theme, “Where Do Your Jellies Take You?” in which consumers post photos online of the places they travel with their shoes. Taking the brand further, consumers could also customize their jelly shoes online.
To bring back a decades-old icon, attendees also suggested launching a lost and found campaign in which consumers discover jelly shoes in locker rooms or through a “jelly drop” (complete with parachutes and airplanes) to key fashion influencers.
The exercise was part of PROMO Live’s< which ends Thursday, full-day workshop on The Big Idea, which McCafferty moderated. Other ideas that emerged from the session include creating a “sensory” experience tied to the brand, tying in names and flavors to the color of the shoes. Marketers could also extend the jellies line to include a jelly purse and clothing tie-ins, attendees said.
