Story Worldwide wins global advertising account with shoe retailing giant HUMANIC

Creative agency Story Worldwide (Story) is to deliver a major 360‐degree advertising campaign for one of Europe’s largest shoe retailers, HUMANIC. Story, which has produced award‐winning work for clients including Agent Provocateur, Lexus and Duchy Originals, will unveil the new campaign to coincide with the launch of HUMANIC’s spring collection and their new website.

HUMANIC has been a major player in the European shoe industry for more than 100 years. Its key markets are Austria, Germany, Hungary and Czech Republic, but HUMANIC stores can also be found in Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Switzerland.

From a branding perspective, HUMANIC has enjoyed particular success with its innovative TV commercials, which have variously amused, wowed and shocked customers since the 1950s.

Story has an opportunity to build on this reputation by delivering engaging messages across a variety of channels, including print ads, billboards and in‐store branding. The primary objective is to increase brand recognition and loyalty in key markets and create a campaign that is scalable internationally.

“We are delighted to have Story on board. We know they’ll push us outside our comfort zone, but that’s where we want to be,” said Peter Horvath, Executive Director and HUMANIC Board Member. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us to refresh our brand and cultivate deeper relationships with our customers through great creative and interesting stories.”

“HUMANIC is exactly the kind of company we like to work with,” said Lars Hemming‐Jorgensen, Story Chief Creative Officer. “It’s a fantastic business with huge potential but, at the moment, the brand doesn’t quite reflect this. It’s our job to convey HUMANIC’s unique story in an imaginative and compelling way. We will therefore look beyond the traditional idea of a single image and strapline; instead we want every point of contact to represent a good use of the audience’s time and persuade customers to take greater ownership of the HUMANIC brand. It’s an ambitious project, but it embodies everything that Story Worldwide is about – storytelling and delivering engagement across all channels.”

This idea of “storytelling” is at the heart of Story’s approach, backed up by the agency’s large editorial department and journalistic experience. By identifying the fascinating stories and anecdotes that lie behind brands and their products/services, Story helps businesses to differentiate themselves from the competition and communicate more meaningfully with their customers. Story is currently demonstrating the benefits of this approach through its work with high‐fashion sunglass retailer Ilori across the USA. In some cases, marketing a product alongside a compelling story has helped Ilori to double sales.

In addition to Ilori and HUMANIC, Story enjoys strong relationships with a number of leading fashion brands, including Agent Provocateur, Oasis, Sunglass Hut, Harrods and Lulu Guinness. In 2007, Vogue magazine described Story Worldwide’s ecommerce website for Agent Provocateur as “the sexiest in the world” and the agency’s work for Sunglass Hut led to an 82% rise in revenues in the first quarter.

About HUMANIC
HUMANIC (www.shoemanic.com) is a fashion leader in shoes and accessories, with more than 150 stores in nine countries and close relationships with brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Buffalo,Lacoste and Puma. HUMANIC is also a trendsetter in store architecture, presentation and service, offering a unique in-store experience. As well as stocking shoes by well-known independent brands,HUMANIC also sells shoes designed by parent company Leder & Schuh.