Friday, June 19, 2009

A famous Father's Day card

In my e-mail inbox this morning was a Father’s Day video card from Famous Footwear. No, I’m not a dad, but I’m married to one – and, equally on point, I can appreciate what the St. Louis-based discount shoe retailer is doing to unconventionally woo shoppers.

The subject line, “A little something special to lift your spirits,” wasn’t particularly revealing, but intriguing enough to prompt me to open the message. Inside, I clicked on a video box and watched a charming video of a young father romping with his tiny daughter in a sunny outdoor setting. A Father’s Day wish preceded the final thought: Make Today Famous.

A ‘forward to a friend’ prompt will allow me to send this message to any of my friends and family. Clever, and an example of a retailer that is thinking outside the box in tough times and coming up with a cost-effective and attention-grabbing way to reach out and touch current and potential customers.

I was planning on visiting my husband’s favorite little tobacco shop this weekend for a couple of nice Father’s Day cigars, but now I’m thinking shoes….

-- Katherine Field

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you post the video?

Anonymous said...

I just saw the video. Pretty cool actually and surprising for a shoe store. Pleasantly surprising I guess.

Rich said...

Great video. You can also see the video on Famous Footwear's home page, www.famousfootwear.com.

Denise Lee Yohn said...

while the effort may indeed be conventional, i'm unsure of the wisdom behind it -- do people really buy shoes for others? as gifts? especially men?

also i would be concerned that "make today famous" is such an emotional, inspiring message, it might overstate the value of giving a man footwear as a gift -- i'm all for brands expressing (and delivering) emotional benefits, but only when the shoe fits (pardon the pun.)

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