Helping build a media and storytelling brand that just happened to sell t-shirts.
HOMAGE, founded in 2007, was a beloved Columbus brand on the rise. With an OSU license and dominating the local flavor presence, it was built on good storytelling and great t-shirts. But we needed to go national.
With a pitch to get the NBA and MLB license, an increased effort in social, adding experiential to the mix, and a focus on increasing the efficiency of our emails, I came in to shape the marketing department at the right moment.
From an award-winning, in-store driving guerrilla campaign with the Cincinnati Enquirer on Reds Opening Day, to quick-turn content and storied apparel for the Cavs championship win, to a pitch and mockups to win the NBA and MLB license, I was part of leading an amazing chapter in this company's history.
Cincinnati Enquirer Experiential Campaign
We wanted to make a big splash for our Cincy store opening, and what better way than to immerse yourself in the traditions of the Opening Day parade.
So we acted like it was 1990, that last time they won the World Series. With a throwback apparel collection, and numerous guerrilla stunts, our goal was to drive awareness and traffic to the new store (and sales, of course).
We created a replica newspaper and showcased our new collection inside. Team members weaved in and out of the parade, with old school newsie bags, distributing papers and showing off the gear. Plus added some games based on local lore. 8 years later, it’s still one of their flagship shops.
Recap Video of Experiential Event
The joy and cultural context of how we brought this campaign to life, down to the finest localized tactics. That brought social love and in-store traffic numbers unlike any other store opening in history.
Doing seasonal-shifting sales is a slippery slope for retailers. You don’t want to diminish the brand by having closeouts but it’s an inevitable part of retail. You order too much, and you don’t sell it all at the holidays. So you see a lot of spring discounts.
Instead of your typical “30% OFF with Spring30” crap, we decided to make it an interactive, social-driven event. A carnival with a game show, in-store winners, online winners, IRL surprise and delight moments, and a reason to tune in every hour on the hour. Not only did we produce the best sale in company history, financially, but increased followers and engagement on our social channels exponentially. Which had people clamoring for a repeat next year.
NOTE: These are long, just skip through to get the vibe.
Wheel of Deals
People Couldn’t Get Enough
Part 1: The Danimal
"This is the best moment of my life"
Daniel Vaccaro (AKA The Danimal) is the brother of one of my best friends. I've had the privilege of knowing him and his entire family since college. He's also the biggest wrestling fan I know, so when we scored some tickets to WWE's Monday Night Raw, I asked our team if we could surprise him with the tickets. Thought it'd be a fun post, because he's hilarious. And HOMAGE (esp. Andy Keller) totally embraced it.
But then, things started to happen and he became a star. What resulted was the most rewarding, most exciting, most enjoyable project of my career.
Part 2: Super star responds
Bailey (WWE star he’s in love with) tweets back
At the end of what was to be our only video, Daniel proclaims "I'm a huge fan of Bayley. She's a hugger and I just wanna hug." Well, she actually saw it on Twitter and responded. After that, we knew this was a bigger deal and had to put together a training montage video to prep for the big hug.
