Schuh

The Challenge

Growth brings a particular creative problem.

The more a business expands, the more opportunities there are for its personality to become diluted. Schuh needed to speak to its customers with the same confidence and irreverence while communicating increasingly with investors, partners and the wider business community.

There was also a more fundamental retail challenge.

At the time, shoes were largely presented as a collection of individual products rather than organised in a way that helped customers navigate the range. Brands were scattered throughout the store rather than clearly grouped together.

For a retailer whose customers often arrived looking for a particular brand, this represented a significant opportunity.

Our Intervention

One of our most significant interventions was to rethink the way the footwear itself was presented.

Rather than scattering shoes throughout the store, we introduced a brand-led approach to product organisation, grouping shoes by brand and creating clearly defined sections.

It sounds simple.

But in retail, simple can be transformative.

The intervention gave customers a much clearer way to navigate the range, made individual brands more visible and created a more coherent visual rhythm across the store.

It also gave Schuh a retail environment that could accommodate the growing number and variety of brands it was offering, while making the overall experience feel more considered and contemporary.

Around this, IDEAS developed and produced a wide range of communications, including in-store graphics, branded price tags, press advertising, annual reports, photography and art direction.

And we didn’t simply design it and walk away.

I would regularly visit Schuh stores to see how the work had actually been implemented, reporting back on what was working, what wasn’t and where further improvements could be made.

That feedback loop between the idea, its implementation and the real-world customer environment was an important part of the relationship.

And, admittedly, there was another benefit to visiting the stores: I enjoyed a rather substantial discount on my favourite trainers.

And occasionally, we got involved in the shoes themselves.

For one of Schuh’s principal suppliers, we even proposed a shoe: a shiny Docs-style upper combined with the silhouette of a schoolgirl T-bar open sandal.

It was an unlikely marriage of references, but very much in keeping with the spirit of the brand and the fashion culture surrounding it.

Campaign & Strategy

Our role was never confined to producing individual pieces of marketing.

We were helping Schuh establish a coherent visual presence across a growing business — one capable of speaking to customers while still having the substance and consistency required by a successful commercial organisation.

The brand-led store layout became an important part of that thinking.

Photography, advertising, in-store lifestyle displays, product organisation and corporate communications all became part of the same conversation.

We also worked on the store environment itself, including interior design and a wider sub-branding and sectioning initiative that helped organise the customer experience within an increasingly sophisticated retail operation.

What We Delivered

• Brand-led product organisation and retail sectioning
• In-store ‘vibe’ graphics and branded price tags
• Window and shop-floor graphics
• Press advertising
• Photography concepts and art direction
• Annual report design and production
• Brand and marketing collateral
• Store interior design
• Sub-branding and retail sectioning
• Future-state retail visualisations
• Store implementation reviews and reporting
• Bespoke footwear concept for a principal supplier

Results & Legacy

IDEAS was there during an important period of Schuh’s growth, helping the brand extend its reach while retaining the character that made it distinctive.

Our brand-led approach to product presentation helped turn the store from a collection of footwear into a more navigable, recognisable and brand-conscious retail environment.

Eventually, Schuh brought its design and marketing functions in-house — a natural progression for a business that had grown to the point where it could build those capabilities itself.

The work relationship, however, became something more enduring.

We became good friends with Schuh’s founder, Sandy Alexander, and we remain in touch with their former Chief Financial Officer, Callum MacLure.

Sandy became one of our greatest advocates, inviting us to design the top-floor hospitality suite at Falkirk Stadium, among other projects and business adventures. Callum and Don Jack, meanwhile, embarked on numerous bold adventures of their own.

Perhaps that is another measure of successful creative collaboration.

The work gets completed. The business moves on. Teams change. But the relationships and mutual respect can remain.

For IDEAS, Schuh was never simply a collection of design jobs. It was a period of growth, collaboration and friendship — and another example of how creative influence can extend well beyond the things that appear in a portfolio.

We don’t just design it. We stick around to see what happens.

And in the Schuh case:

We stuck around. Visited the stores. Checked the implementation. Reported back. And occasionally went home with new trainers.