Keds could get a serious brand boost from its new partnership with Taylor Swift. The brand’s three-year deal with the singer and song writer, set to kick off later this month, includes footwear collaborations and a multimedia campaign. And fashion marketing and public relations experts said Keds stands to benefit in a major way from those initiatives.
"Overall, we really love this collaboration," said Marc Beckman, CEO and founder of Designers Management Agency, a New York-based talent and brand management firm, which recently worked with Swift on an image campaign for Sony.
"[Taylor] is a real fashion influencer, and as a result of that, Keds or any other fashion lifestyle brand affiliated with her will feel an uptick regarding brand awareness and making the brand more relevant among the younger generation, and they will definitely see a positive uptick in their overall sales." Beckman noted that Swift’s involvement with Keds could take the 96-year-old sneaker brand in a new direction.
"For several years, Keds has been kind of floundering around with no clear direction, and it has gone into this abyss of irrelevancy with the fashion scene and the younger generation," he said. "Now they are making a real commitment to Taylor with this multiyear deal.”
Beth Flom, brand director at CoreBrand consulting firm, agreed: "The youthful vitality of Swift can reinvigorate and [bring] the Keds brand [to] a new audience,” she said. “Even in her youth, Swift has achieved an image as a young fashion icon.”
Source: WWD