Timberland: Best foot forward w/ 3D & more
Timberland is pulling all the stops for its eco-friendly Earthkeepers collection with “Nature Needs Heroes” campaign from TV and print, to social media and a microsite with 3D technology. I first thought it was just a marketing ploy, using the “3D” term to entice visits. I’m glad to find that I was wrong.
Sure you need a pair of 3D glasses, which you can grab at its retail locations. I’m pretty sure it would look dope—no, I don’t have 3D glasses laying around in the office so I’m seeing it 2D—but I can totally “see” the 3D experience.
The landing page puts you in the right spot, with a guy floating in the air attempting to grab a plastic bottle (eco-friendliness is the theme throughout the campaign). You can rotate him and at different points in the rotation, different elements are highlighted, from the apparel to the video. The product detail view offers another excellent use of 3D modeling with 360°-view (the boots one is very cool with dual-angle view), which works great even while zooming.
Yeah, it loads a little slow, but trust me, you want to see this. It is quite impressive.
After seeing this, I decided to checkout the rest of Timberland.com and I was quite surprised with the transformation. (Note: Last time I visited the site was in early spring).
Timberland—Women’s
Timberland Women’s microsite welcomes you with a full-screen video of models enjoying the outdoors and the message “Go out and be you”. The overall branding is right on: The look is fresh and natural yet sophisticated, just a tad rugged to reflect the passion for the outdoors, using natural elements like kraft paper as a nod to the eco-friendly philosophy of the brand and the handwritten notes add a touch of youth and a warmer feel.
What I like most is the Get The Look section where you can browse through the campaign photos and click on the different marked items on the photos. The Gallery showcases different looks by women who don’t look like models, a “real people” aspect to them which I found pleasing. There’s also a behind-the-scene, get-to-know-me approach with On Location (B-roll of the campaign shoot) and Meet the Designers (video interviews with the designers behind the apparels).
Timberland—Heritage
Timberland Heritage offers a look through the brand history in nice sepia tone spiked with social element: You’re invited to “Become Part of Our Story” and you’ll be part of the photo montage on the microsite. On top of that, there are other pretty interesting things to check out, from the videos to “The New Classics,” which contains Build Your Own, the Abbington Collection and the Timberland Boot Company.
Timberland—Build Your Own
Timberland Shop is pretty standard e-commerce site with a pretty cool “Build Your Own” with “SHOE” or “BOOT” options. (Still a bit buggy—I encountered a few broken links when trying some of the women’s boots.)
Timberland Boot Company
Meanwhile, the Timberland Boot Company is a neat little microsite that showcases special collections that are inspired by a time of transition in New England and Northern England. The sections of the microsite are displayed as framed art on a white-washed, weathered wall in tune with the pioneering spirit feel. This type of draggable Flash site has been done many times before so the microsite is just a nice little thing to look at but, my goodness, those boots are fetching!
That wraps up the Timberland re-vamped online brand. Don’t forget to visit Earthkeepers to join in the movement and meet “like-minded people from all over the world intent on doing the little things and the bigger ones.”
I’ll leave you with these fun facts from Timberland Eco-Love Survey in April 2010:
The survey found most men have high expectations for the women they date or associate with:*
- Must Love the Earth. Fifty-four percent of men would question whether to start a relationship with someone who litters. Others would ponder if a woman was worth dating if she doesn’t recycle (25%), leaves the lights on when not at home (23%) or drives a gas-guzzler (21%).
- Guys Dig Green. One-quarter of men think “green” women make better life partners (24%) or friends (27%) than those who aren’t so environmentally responsible.
- Plan an Eco-date. Grab your hiking boots and a shovel—more than 40 percent (41%) of men would be more interested in an “adventure” date like hiking or rock climbing or a charity or service-focused date like tree planting, rather than the traditional “dinner and a movie” date.
- Walking the Green Carpet. When it comes to today’s hottest “eco-lebrities,” men say Cameron Diaz (27%) and Kate Hudson (26%) would inspire them to go green.
*Source: The Timberland Company (via Market Wire)
