Teva advocates for all who adventure, and the brand stands for stepping out as your authentic self every day. Their vibrant collection of Pride sandals spotlight the Pride flag and its call for inclusivity, and the brand further celebrates its commitment to the LGBTQ+ community through donations to The Trevor Project – the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people.
Teva sought to celebrate the community through thoughtfully inclusive messaging, shopping experiences, and marketing that would provide a real sense of community connection and discussion for this vital, annual cultural moment . Specific goals were as
• Transcend Product: Refocus Teva Pride to go beyond product through connective brand stories, meaningful partnerships, and inclusive actions.
• Build Connections: Foster true connection between Teva + LGBTQ+ audiences based on authentic emotions and inclusive storytelling.
• Committed Storytelling: Connect with the queer Teva community through content that highlighted how Teva sandals already help define various queer identities.
Teva contribute meaningfully to a fun LGBTQ+ cultural tradition where fashion already drove conversation:
the read.
From Urban Dictionary, for context…
Read: “In gay slang, means to publicly ‘call out’ someone… equivalent to the term ‘roast/roasting someone.’... Originated in gay black culture, made popular and used by drag queens and gay male bar/club culture. The term "reading" stems from the idea that these called-out flaws are so apparent, they can be perceived/’read’ off the person in question as easily as reading a piece of text off a book.”
Teva had the opportunity to strap into Pride 2022 with social content inspired by their queer community that delivers the newness and wonder of the brand. And the right read could spur positive, queer-centric comedic content that was highly shareable, while featuring all the Pride fits for your feet. After all, we all know the shoes make the outfit.
Teva enlisted the queen of LGBTQ+ community, Kornbread Jete (@kornbreadthesnack), known for competing on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2022. Kornbread would provide “Soleful Readings” to celebrate Pride fits from summer ‘22. The catch? The read is from the knees down.
In a Pride month content campaign, Kornbread would read images of queer models, all swearing Teva footwear. The goal was to read and simultaneously celebrate the queer persona the models were invoking with their Teva look.
Creating LGBTQ+ specific content with an icon of the community opened Teva to new audiences and reignited the passion for the brand within their existing queer fanbase. The debut and finale posts were collaborative posts on Teva and Kornbread Instagram channels; the four posts in-between were published by Teva and reposted by Kornbread in stories. In addition to fanfare, Kornbread’s direct support of the posts throughout the campaign resulted in superfluous story re-shares and interactions beyond her scope.
But most importantly, that s*** was f****** funny. We elicited genuine laughs and killer reads, as evidenced by the comment sections.
• Transcend Product: Partners went above and beyond to support compelling content. We tapped into the queer identities associated with certain styles of Teva shoes and sandals vs just the product itself, to celebrate a lifestyle experience.
• Build Connections: A strong passion for the reads was showcased by Kornbread’s support of the posts throughout the campaign, resulting in superfluous story reshares and interactions beyond her scope.
1.2M+ impressions
940K+ Reach
$97K+ Social Media Value
• Committed Storytelling: The content resonated with new audiences. Creating LGBTQ+ specific content with an icon of the community opened Teva to new audiences as well as reignited the passion for the brand within their existing queer fans.
"kelsie.riann - @m_terry12 THE PRIDE ONE"
"itsloganmarie - This is great @teva"
"aliceteavee - I love my tevas"
"jennybruso - I am SO READY for more drag queens in my outdoorsy social media. LOVE me some @kornbreadthesnack! Well done, Teva!"
