Velcro may be more than 50 years old, but it isn’t interested in an early retirement. Instead, it is looking for a little rejuvenation. To make it happen, the company is pushing its product in a new worldwide brand campaign that showcases how Velcro can be used in daily life, AdAge reports.

The campaign, which is using video, digital banners and social media, was cooked up by Boston agency Breakaway Innovation Group, which signed on with Velcro back in 2011. “We wanted to showcase all the amazing ways in which the product can be included into the daily lives of our consumers,” said Jurjen Jacobs, Velcro's VP-global marketing, according to AdAge.Continue reading...

Iconic brands can either remain iconic — or become obsolete. For a brand like Keds, creator of the original sneaker in 1916, the challenge is significant, given today's ultra-competitive athletic footwear environment.

The Keds strategy to maintain relevance centers around college kids. From mid-March through early May, Keds will go on a road trip to nine college campuses in nine cities, pitching its brand in an integrated marketing campaign called "How Do You Do?"

Keds is pulling out the stops in appealing to the Millennial generation.Continue reading...

As goes the economy, so goes home improvement. Home Depot has seen slipping sales in big ticket ($900+) items since 2006. In response, the DIY retailer has been focusing on smaller projects: window treatments and new paint colors to liven old spaces, for example.

With spring a perennially good time to pique interest in redecorating, Home Depot is wooing women with a celebrity brand. Martha Stewart Living-branded items, ranging from patio furniture and closet organization kits to cleaning supplies and paint, are all now available and carry icons (moon or a star) for easier assembly of appropriate items.Continue reading...

The recession has caused many savvy shoppers to gravitate to the do-it-yourself (DIY) category, but another level of consumer involvement is also growing: design-your-own (DYO).

Keds, for example, is not only encouraging their customers to participate in the design of their own shoes, but the brand is also including them in the promotion and sales of the DYO products, effectively making consumers business partners.

Kristin Kohler Burrows, President of Keds, says:

"In conjunction with this brand philosophy, we have created Keds Collective, a place where fashion, commerce and creativity converge. It's a new online model dedicated to the creative freedom of Keds and an inspiring and fun site offering aspiring designers and creative-minded people an opportunity to design their own shoes and start their own businesses selling their unique styles online at keds.com."Continue reading...

There is no doubt that these are difficult times for many brands, especially luxury brands. Yet for every hulking, ominous, soul-crushing grey economic cloud there is a silver lining. In the current financial storm, that silver lining is being nailed down, sanded, and painted by do-it-yourself (DIY) brands. Not only are DIY brands standing strong in this turbulent economy, but they are growing.

Take AutoZone, for instance. It just posted a year-over-year fiscal quarter sales increase of 7.5 percent. Continue reading...