Who: Aldo with Studio Bonafide.
What: “Step into Love,” a new video-driven brand campaign for fall, built around a TikTok challenge and the infectious music and ultra-hip dance steps that dominate on Donald Trump’s least favourite social platform.
When & Where: The new brand platform launched this week and is running for eight months, with an integrated campaign across media (digital, social and OOH), in-store and on a dedicated “StepIntoLove” microsite.
Why: Aldo describes this as a new creative direction for the brand, with a “video-first approach” that reflects its audience’s love of multi-media content. The brand film fuses dance, music and fashion; the opening super describes it as a story about “expressing yourself with confidence, and having the courage to connect with the world around you.” In other words, Aldo wants to connect with younger consumers.
“Step into Love is about the ability to express your true self. It’s our way of showing our personality, our soul,” said Daianara Grullon Amalfitano, senior vice-president Aldo brand, in a release.
How: The two-and-a-half minute anchor film was shot in New York City pre-Covid-19, and features a group of fashionable strangers coming together in a subway train. When the train stops, the music kicks in—the Imanbek remix of SAINt JHN’s “Roses,” one of the songs of the summer—and the passengers begin to dance. “A spontaneous moment of genuine human connection,” is how Aldo describes it. It could be a music video, except there are a lot of shot of people’s shoes.
“By setting our story in the backdrop of an ordinary daily commute and turning it into something fun and extraordinary, we get the opportunity to showcase how a group of individuals can confidently express themselves; they step forward, step together and ultimately find themselves stepping into love,” said Grullon Amalfitano.
A dance party in the time of COVID? “While the conceptualization and video shoot happened prior to COVID-19, the storyline and the uplifting energy strikes us all now with a bolder and deeper meaning,” said Grullon Amalfitano. “In the story’s conclusion, the inspirational depiction of a choreographed united front is truly a metaphor of the power that comes with connecting on a different level, and of coming together to create change.”
What about TikTok: While the platform has been evolving and the types of content it features are expanding, there’s no question it’s explosive popularity was largely due to dance challenges. This is Aldo joining that game.
People can film themselves performing “StepIntoLove” dance steps to “Roses,” post it TikTok and tag @Aldo_Shoes for a chance to win $5,000. To promote the challenge, Aldo partnered with a handful of TikTok stars doing their own “StepIntoLove” performance, and the StepIntoLove microsite includes the performers from the video demonstrating the dance steps.
Is that Aldo Bensadoun? It is, although he’s not dancing. The founder of the company makes a cameo appearance as a passenger in the subway, delighted when the dancing starts. His son Douglas Bensadoun, Studio Bonafide’s executive creative director, developed the campaign.
@kalanibrooke #Stepintolove Always dancing! 🤍 Join the #stepintolove dance challenge by heading to @aldo_shoes on IG and TikTok and enter to win $5000 💸 #FYP
@gabedofficial #AD Dance lets me express & love my true self. Step into loving the true you! Enter @aldo_shoes #StepIntoLove#DanceChallenge to win $5K #FYP #AldoCrew
