2024 marked the 100th anniversary of North East family-run footwear retailer Charles Clinkard, and to celebrate O agency was tasked with opening a shoebox of memories... literally!
Following a visit to the company’s headquarters in Middlesbrough, the creative team from O agency were given a unique opportunity to dig through the archives.
Kari Owers, founder of O agency, said: “We had such a wonderful time opening up old shoeboxes stuffed with vintage footwear, old newspaper clippings, sales ledgers and photographs. The company’s rich 100-year history shone through, with memories of people bringing their children in to store to try on their first pair of shoes, or picking out a special pair for their wedding demonstrating how central the stores were in people’s lives.
“We wanted to bring that sense of community and memory-making to the fore in an integrated creative campaign that everyone from staff to customers could enjoy to celebrate its 100th birthday.”
O agency created a campaign to increase awareness of the Charles Clinkard brand across all channels and showcase the entrepreneurial spirit of the founding family that shaped the company’s history to date and drives an exciting future forward.
Taking its inspiration from the heyday of the silver screen in the 1920s, when the company first formed with one store in Middlesbrough, we developed an overarching campaign creative that would soon underpin every element of the campaign. Old archive imagery with the strapline “A lifetime of memories” led across all on and offline marketing, providing a new visual identity for the year ahead. This included a gorgeous logo lock up that appeared across every birthday touchpoint including point of sale, creative window displays and lookbooks, as well as an online takeover on the brand’s social media channels and website.
“We took inspiration from the art deco era, creating a special CC100 logo for window decals that could be used across all stores and an in-store display that used some of the archive photos we found right back on day one. Commemorative gift bags and a special edition newspaper helped us celebrate the event with customers,” added Kari.
A 100th birthday footwear collection was launched to commemorate the anniversary, with social media influencers gifted their choice of style to help share the story, which boosted ecommerce web traffic and social engagement, and reached over 68,000 people.
Following a series of in-store launches for staff and customers, O’s PR team set up media interviews with the founder’s grandson Charles Clinkard and the retailer’s Managing Director for Retail, Tim Payne, revealing its growth and plans for the future achieved regional and national editorial coverage, including features with Drapers and BBC Look North, as well as Newcastle Chronicle and The Journal achieving a total reach of 18 million people for the anniversary news.
Rebecca Elvis, Charles Clinkard said: “Celebrating 100 years of Charles Clinkard was a momentous occasion, and working with O Agency to bring our history to life in such a creative and engaging way made it even more special. Their support throughout the campaign helped us truly capture the essence of our company – the results were fantastic, creating a real sense of pride amongst our team and bringing our history alive for our customers.”
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