Liberty Shoes targets tier-2, tier-3 markets; launches campaign for younger cohorts

Liberty Shoes, the 1954-founded Indian shoe company, has unveiled its latest campaign titled Mera Joota Hindustani. The campaign is a play on the vintage and iconic melody Mera Joota Hai Japani from the legendary singer Mukesh. 

The new campaign, conceptualised and created in-house by Barun Prabhakar, the marketing head of Liberty Shoes, carries a jingle of its own. The song features popular singers Shilpa Rao, MC Square, Riar Saab, Karan Kanchan, and Killa K. 

The campaign comes just in time for India’s 78th Independence Day, and is seemingly directed at consumers from all parts of the country. “The whole campaign is a representation of the ‘Make in India’ concept. From Mera Joota Hai Japani to Mera Joota Hindustani, it is a statement on how far India has come in terms of its growth and prosperity,” says Prabhakar, commenting on the genesis of the campaign and the brand intent behind it. 

Prabhakar also opines that having the ability and the proper facilities to create advertisements in-house are helpful in reducing the lead time, and also gives the brand more autonomy on how the end results appear. This is why he chose to create the film himself. 

“Instead of having to explain the guidelines to an agency, passing the concept and communication, and then waiting for things to happen with a lot of back and forth, this saves a lot of time. And it also allows me to articulate more authentically what the brand wants to convey to the consumers.”

The film has a lot of shots depicting Liberty’s sneaker offerings. As per Prabhakar, the idea is to make it relatable for the younger folks. This is also why the brand has chosen to go with a rap song for the film as opposed to any other genre. “We wanted to reposition our brand to a new-age audience who are more attracted to sneakers and street-style culture. So, the limelight is on sneakers,” he says.

He further adds, “I wanted to represent all parts of the country, which is why the singers on the song are from both the North and the South. I also chose rap as the theme of the song because Gen Z and Gen Alpha are more attuned to this genre of music, and those are the consumers we are targeting with this campaign.”

The sneakers depicted in the spot have been designed in association with Sugandha Tyagi, who is a Delhi-based self-taught artist and founder of the design studio Shoes Your Daddy.

The media mix for the campaign is going to primarily be digital, with an emphasis on YouTube and social media, along with partnerships with influencers. 

Speaking on the brand’s decision to reposition itself, Prabhakar says that Liberty, having been in the market for about 70 years, has a very trustworthy reputation among kids and consumers above the age of 35. But the brand is aiming to cater to more age-groups. 

“We realised that the newer consumers from Gen Z and millennials are perhaps not considering the brand as much as we’d like them to. That is where the brand needed to evolve. So we have fine-tuned our design philosophy, marketing communications, and our retail outlook,” he says.

In terms of the brand’s business footprint across the country, Prabhakar reveals that most of the brand’s revenue comes from the north, especially from Hindi-speaking markets. “Our key markets are primarily the Hindi-speaking regions. To be precise, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, and also Bengaluru.”

The brand is also eyeing “massive expansion” in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, as per Prabhakar.