Anomaly launched its first campaign for San Francisco-based material innovation brand Allbirds with a pre-holiday effort focused on the brand’s Wood Runners and Wool Runners shoes.
The integrated “Meet Your Shoes” campaign is centered around a pair of ads on the two styles of shoes, while running across digital video, cinema, streaming audio, social, and OOH. Each of the spots, which run in 30 and 60-second versions, focuses on the unique nature of the materials making up the shoes, via a subtly surreal setup.
In “Tree Meeting,” a woman looks down at her shoes in the middle of a dental procedure and appears to just kind of wander off. She then boards a plane and continues on her perplexing journey before finally arriving in front of a tree. Is she in the middle of a fugue state? No, she just wanted to meet her shoes.
An understated voiceover explains that while the brand certainly wouldn’t suggest it and there’s truly no reason for it, you could technically come face to face with the origin of the Allbirds shoes you’re currently wearing. In the case of “Tree Meeting,” that means a eucalyptus tree, while “Sheep Meeting” applies the same approach to wool.
Anomaly also created an interactive experience at MeetYourShoes.net so you can (sort of) meet your shoes, without all the travel expenses.
“No other shoe company can say, with pride, where your shoes come from,” Anomaly Los Angeles chief creative officer Josh Fell said in a statement. “But Allbirds can. Because they come from nature. From trees. From sheep. From sugar. Brilliant and simple. In a world where consumers can, and should, question the source of their products we built a platform inviting you to actually meet your shoes.”
“Our approach to marketing at Allbirds has always been to let the shoes, and our fans, do the talking,” added Allbirds vice president, marketing Julie Channing. “The fact that we’re using these incredible natural materials to create products people can feel good in and about is surprising in an industry where synthetics are the status quo, so our goal with this campaign was simply to let more people in on our secret in a light-hearted way.”
Credits:
Brand: Allbirds
Campaign: Meet Your Shoes
Spots: Sheep Meeting, Tree Meeting
Agency: Anomaly LA
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Björn Rühmann
Editorial: Arcade
Color: MPC
Finishing: Timber
Music: Walker
Sound Design: One Thousand Birds
Mix: Lime
Digital Production Company: Built by Mechanic
OOH Production Company: Unreasonable Studios
Retouching Company: Epilogue