The latest Bob Sheard piece went live at some point last week over on the Fresh Britain website. In this particular write up, Bob discusses how he helped reposition Dr Martins, his work with Converse – the concept of cultural ‘blank canvesses’ and predictions on how brands will behave at this weeks Bread & Butter.
For all those out there interested in brands and branding this write up is a must read.

“A pair of All Stars are a blank canvas, they get personalised and develop meaning through whoever puts them on and makes them their own. It’s the same as a Dr Martens boot – if a copper wears them, they represent order. If a globalisation protester wears them they represent disorder. If a nationalist wears them they represent the far right, however if a socialist wears them they represent the left wing.”

Read the full piece over here.

A few weeks back my BNTL brother Nick Lewis did a little post on Bob Sheard from Fresh Britain highlighting his work with some of the best UK and global fashion brands. The last primarily focused on Bob’s work on Nike’s ACG line, you can read that here. On this occasion Bob sits down to highlight the importance of brand immersion, using the performance running brand UVU as a case study. It’s really interesting and inspiring to read and see the lengths Fresh Britain go through just ensure they immerse themselves with a brand and it’s consumer.
Below is a short exert from Bob’s UVU piece.

“Working with UVU we ran the North Pole marathon. Our team ran across the jungle, we pounded the desert and this then culminated in running the North Pole marathon. You don’t just turn up with your trainers for something like that. It was hard but it was all a vital part of the immersion process. It meant training for six months, running in mud, running in sand, fog and snow. It meant getting up at 2am because that is when it is coldest and running at 50km runs with sleep deprivation prepared us for the North Pole marathon. Only then could we truly get into the mind and soul of the UVU consumer.”

You can read the rest of the piece here.