This year, Neeman’s launched a creative guerrilla marketing campaign to enhance brand awareness and drive organic traffic. Collaborating with micro-influencers, the campaign introduced a clever tactic, influencers shouted 'Are Those Neeman’s Shoes?' in public spaces, tapping into a common belief that smartphones pick up on conversations. This playful strategy, designed to spark curiosity, gained attention during key events like the IPL, leading to a surge in search queries, website visits, and greater brand visibility. Here's a case study on how Neeman’s achieved this.
Category introduction
In 2024, India’s Footwear market is projected to generate US$28.2 billion in revenue, with a steady annual growth rate of 3.12% (CAGR 2024-2029). The largest segment within the market is Boots, expected to reach US$10.3 billion. On a global scale. In India, per capita revenue in the footwear market is set to hit US$19.59, while the market volume is predicted to reach 2,287 million pairs by 2029, with a 1.3% growth in 2025. On average, individuals in India will purchase 1.54 pairs of footwear in 2024, with 98% of sales coming from the Non-Luxury segment. This market growth is fueled by an expanding middle class and a surge in e-commerce.
Brand introduction
Neeman’s sole objective is create shoes that are comfortable, lightweight, and breathable. They offer a range of casual and athleisure shoes, including sneakers, slip-ons, and loafers, with a focus on style and comfort.
Summary
The ‘Are Those Neeman's Shoes’ phone hack was a guerrilla marketing campaign, designed to tap into the concept that our smartphones are constantly listening to us. With limited advertising budgets, Neeman's partnered with micro-influencers who travelled around shouting, ‘ARE THOSE NEEMAN'S SHOES?’ in crowded areas. This phrase was intended to trigger smartphones nearby to push Neeman's ads to people within earshot, capitalising on the phenomenon where people often see ads for products they’ve just spoken about.
The campaign gained attention, especially during events like the IPL (Indian Premier League), and resulted in increased organic traffic to Neeman's website and a rise in search queries for the brand. This creative strategy highlighted how brands can use everyday technology quirks to drive engagement and increase visibility without massive ad spend
Objective
Neeman's aimed to achieve several key objectives through the 'Are Those Neeman's Shoes' campaign:
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Increase Brand Awareness: The primary goal was to expand the brand's reach, especially with limited marketing budgets. By using the guerrilla tactic of having influencers shout the phrase in public spaces, they aimed to trigger the listening capabilities of nearby smartphones and push Neeman's ads to people, effectively expanding their visibility.
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Drive Organic Traffic: The campaign intended to boost organic website sessions and brand search queries. By creating curiosity and intrigue around the phrase, the campaign sought to make people actively search for Neeman's shoes online, leading to a significant rise in search engine queries and website visits.
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Capitalise on Everyday Behaviors: The brand leveraged the everyday occurrence where people believe their phones are listening to their conversations, using it as a marketing tool. This not only added a layer of humor and relatability but also utilised behavioural insights to drive ad impressions.
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Engage Influencers and Consumers: Starting with two influencers, the campaign snowballed into a broader movement, with more micro-influencers joining and incorporating the phrase into their content. This further amplified the campaign's reach and engagement across social media.
Ultimately, the brand saw a significant uptick in organic website sessions, search queries, and conversions, while also gaining attention during major events like the IPL
Execution
Execution was primarily on Instagram and LinkedIn
The brand collaborated with influencers to further drive conversation. These infleuncers took to the streets to ask the question 'Are those Neeman's Shoes?'
Results
- 17% Rise in organic website sessions
- 20% Rise in brand search queries
- 19% Increase in organic conversions
- 30% rise in Google Searches
- Marketing heads from across the country started applauding Neeman's new initiative across LinkedIn
- The phrase 'Are Those Neeman's Shoes' was picked up by more influencers who started incorporating it in their content
- It was heard at one of the biggest sporting events at the country - IPL (Indian Premier League).
"Wicked. Genius. Creative. What a hack. These are just some of the many genuine responses people have sent us. Overall the feedback is resoundingly positive. Moreover, it motivates the team that has worked behind the scenes to see all these months of planning come to life and be accepted in the way it has. The biggest learning we will take away from this campaign would be, Never pull the plug on an idea midway. Allow it to run its course. True feedback or potential only shows itself when you run with the idea." - Amar Preet Singh, Co-Founder & COO
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