Again-to-school purchasing is in session! As dad and mom look to outfit their youngsters for the yr forward (and decide up some recent appears to be like for themselves) a complete new slate of traits is rising.

Ensuring each scholar is beginning the brand new faculty yr on the appropriate foot, Rack Room Sneakers, identified for stocking the most popular shoe manufacturers, newest kinds and in style colour traits, is forecasting 4 main footwear traits this yr which embody retro or heritage joggers, variety of sneakers, cool & comfortable and sportstyle operating. 

Retro or heritage joggers, that are at the moment all the craze on TikTok, have the added bonus of bringing college students’ dad and mom again to their very own youthful glory days. And main the cost on the pattern are kinds by New Steadiness alongside Nike’s Waffle Racer Debut footwear.

Taking its inspiration from in style sports activities, the range of sneakers pattern appears to be like at footwear made in style by basketball, tennis and soccer. Nike’s in style Air Gamma Power, Courtroom Imaginative and prescient and Courtroom Borough footwear, Adidas’ Grand Courtroom and the traditional Chuck Taylor, for instance, are all influenced by basketball. The New Steadiness CT300 and Nike Legacy, nonetheless, each take cues from tennis. The most recent pattern to dominate hails from the soccer pitch with the Adidas VL Courtroom. 

In the meantime, for college kids trying to be cool and cozy this season, trending footwear contains simply slip-on kinds from Birkenstock and Hey Dude, which notably share an reasonably priced worth level. Hey Dude has given a revamp to its Conway and Cody traces alongside new prints and hi-colors for his or her Wally and Wendy merchandise, which specialists from Rack Room Sneakers are forecasting to be exceedingly in style this yr. And concurrently, Crocs has taken the reigns with its spin on recent colour hues for traditional fashions and collabs reminiscent of Good day Kitty, Minecraft and Barbie. 

One other pattern highlighting the elevated demand for consolation is sport-style operating footwear. Relying on innovation, these are an elevated model of life-style trainers with standout fashions together with New Steadiness’s Recent Foam Roav, Nike’s Air Max Excee and the Adidas Kaptir all completely mixing cutting-edge operating know-how with recent colorways. 

Whereas model preferences differ based mostly on age, Rack Room Sneakers’ vp and common merchandising supervisor, Brian Burnett advised Fairchild Studios that similarities are discovered throughout the board with TikTok being one of many foremost drivers of the crossovers.

“We all know that youthful youngsters love enjoyable, colour and love the concept of simple on and straightforward off,” mentioned Burnett. “Mother is concentrated on nice worth to worth and high quality. Our older college students are extra dialed into probably the most related traits, the place being in model is extremely essential within the hallways, in addition to discovering the appropriate shoe that hooks along with his/her outfits.”  

A number of the hottest manufacturers Rack Room Sneakers notes within the classroom embody Nike, New Steadiness, Adidas, Converse, Crocs, Hey Dude and Birkenstocks. The corporate shares a mess of different manufacturers to provide their prospects all kinds to select from reminiscent of Puma, Vans, Skechers, Beneath Armour, Reebok, Dr. Martens and Timberland. 

Throughout all kinds, Burnett notes that particular colour traits for the shortly approaching faculty yr are clear white on white, neutrals and rainbow and a spectrum of hues that embody refined blush pink and light-weight blue to extra intense colours reminiscent of Barbie Pink – which will be seen within the firm’s newest marketing campaign, “All About You.” 

As college students and oldsters put together for the brand new yr, Burnett mentioned his primary tip is “getting your youngsters’s toes correctly measured forward of the varsity yr.” He added that, when doable, it’s best to make the time to bodily strive on footwear, as each model and its model differ. Rack Room Sneakers options each in-person fittings and on-line measuring instruments to assist dad and mom get the proper shoe for his or her youngsters.

Rack Room Sneakers Launches Again-to-Faculty Marketing campaign That includes Actual Youngsters  

Molly Hartney discusses Rack Room Sneakers’ latest marketing campaign.

Launching simply in time for the back-to-school season, Rack Room Sneakers’ newest marketing campaign, “All About You”, which highlights the retailer’s numerous buyer base, showcases quite a lot of kinds and types rigorously curated with the most recent traits.

That includes actual youngsters in its campaigns is among the methods Rack Room Sneakers units itself aside. Working collectively, the retailer has realized firsthand from college students and their dad and mom about what communicate to them probably the most and why. In truth, lots of the youngsters featured have been a part of the corporate’s campaigns throughout a number of seasons, rising up and evolving alongside Rack Room Sneakers’ buyers.

“All About You” places the patron on the forefront, displaying how Rack Room Sneakers places what fits the youngsters’s private wants and personalities on the middle of every thing. A frontrunner inside the shoe retail area, Rack Room Sneakers has efficiently carried out this up to now with its give attention to its Athletic Store and Youngsters Membership. Additionally seeing the all-time excessive curiosity in sportswear and streetwear, the corporate has met this demand by launching its back-to-school marketing campaign sooner than regular timelines.

Along with highlighting its prospects, Rack Room Sneakers’ marketing campaign additionally focuses on key trending fashion-forward footwear and colorway choices for the upcoming season that might be utilized in shops and for its performance-based promoting methods.  Persevering with to be in line with their marketing campaign is essential to the corporate’s advertising and marketing methods. Whether or not selecting to buy in-person or purchase on-line, the message stays the identical.

Right here, Molly Hartney talks to Fairchild Studios about Rack Room Sneakers’ newest marketing campaign, the significance of utilizing actual youngsters and the most recent back-to-school traits.

Fairchild Studios: What are the important thing back-to-school traits you’ve noticed for this yr and the way are you incorporating them into Rack Room Sneakers’ new marketing campaign?

Molly Hartney: We are going to see pleasure round an assortment of court docket sneakers together with platform kinds, in addition to heritage operating manufacturers like Nike, New Steadiness, Adidas, Puma and Reebok. The colour traits are white on white, panda (black/white), neutrals and pops of colour. We might be incorporating these traits into our campaigns by specializing in key kinds and fashion-forward choices for the season inside our efficiency advertising and marketing campaigns and in-store communication. 

Fairchild Studios: What was the inspiration behind Rack Room Sneakers’ new back-to-school marketing campaign? How does it differ from earlier years?

M.H.: This yr’s back-to-school marketing campaign continues to make sure the client is aware of it’s “All About You,” loving your model and your pattern, ensuring you’ll be able to select what you’re keen on from an enormous number of merchandise — it’s all about them! We would like the client to really feel assured of their alternative, product and magnificence. 

Fairchild Studios: Why was it essential to you to have actual folks (particularly youngsters) within the marketing campaign?

M.H.: You will need to have actual youngsters throughout the back-to-school timeframe, as we get to work together with youngsters ranging in age from 6 to 14, in addition to their mothers. We get to know them on a private degree and speak to them about what manufacturers and traits imply to them. We make all of it about them!

Partaking with actual youngsters means we’re listening to what issues to them firsthand and understanding how their character can match their footwear. They’re advocates for the true product we supply in retailer, and it makes them be ok with attending faculty within the fall with recent kicks on their toes. 

One in all our actual youngsters has been with us for a few years. His model has advanced as he has moved into totally different passions. Immediately, Sam is a member of the chess membership, laptop coding and enjoys swimming. He has gone from solely sporting Crocs as a child to embracing new athletic manufacturers like Nike and Reebok. Crocs nonetheless holds a particular place in Sam’s shoe wardrobe, his favourite colour is gold, and it simply so occurs Crocs makes a gold Croc! 

Fairchild Studios: In an more and more aggressive retail panorama, how does Rack Room Sneakers plan to distinguish itself and entice prospects throughout the back-to-school season?

M.H.: We might be specializing in persevering with to be related to the client and constant in our messaging. We wish to guarantee we’re seen on all channels no matter how they wish to store. Availability might be an enormous issue, from a sizing perspective, but additionally from a achievement perspective. We might be in line with the visibility of merchandise, whether or not prospects ship merchandise direct to the house or decide them up in-store. 

We can even be seen on key manufacturers, traits, and kinds, and permit a few of our personalization efforts to assist drive key messages. Lastly, throughout back-to-school, we differentiate our model with, our Athletic Store focus, Youngsters Membership focus and our “All About You” marketing campaign that comes with our actual youngsters. 

Fairchild Studios: With the rise of on-line purchasing and altering shopper behaviors, how has Rack Room Sneakers tailored its advertising and marketing methods to seize the eye of back-to-school buyers?

M.H.: This yr amongst footwear searches, sportswear and streetwear has seen an acceleration in demand throughout key back-to-school. To seize this demand, we’re launching back-to-school campaigns somewhat earlier this yr to make sure we present up for our prospects whether or not they wish to store on-line or in-store. 

Given that almost all buyers are on the lookout for sneakers throughout this time, we might be amping up our efforts round our Athletic Store and making certain we place ourselves as an authority within the sports activities and sneakers area, because it pertains to athletics. 

The place doable we’re pushing “Toe to Head” campaigns with athletics being the focus and making certain we communicate to pattern proper manufacturers, kinds, and the largest issue, availability! To draw at present’s omnichannel buyers we wish to be sure that our campaigns are related and goal the client how she desires to buy. We are going to be sure that the client is aware of they’ll buy a product nonetheless they wish to store, on-line or in-store. 

We are going to leverage personalization to drive the basket and to interact with our prospects on a extra one on one degree.  We might be increasing into machine studying instruments inside a few of our social branding buys to check and study from this back-to-school season and we might be launching some key manufacturers of the season on TikTok! 

We can even be partnering with new key affiliate companions this yr for on-line occasions, particular person back-to-school traits and bestseller placements. Lastly, we might be trying into prior back-to-school occasions to capitalize on the success of a few of our greatest companions throughout this all essential back-to-school window.