Battling bots / The global sneaker market’s estimated worth is $76.6bn and it is projected to grow to $97.8bn by 2024, according to Value Market Research. However, in line with the market’s value, limited-edition releases and high-profile collaborations between celebrities and brands has given rise to a major problem in the industry: opportunistic buyers capitalising on sneaker drops by buying them at market value and reselling them on third-party sites for a profit. For example, last year the Travis Scott Air Jordans (dubbed the ‘shoe of the season’) were on sale at retailers in the UK for £140 ($175) but went on to be resold for upwards of £2,500 ($3,100), as reported by the BBC.
In fact, according to Imperva’s 2019 Bad Bot report, 18% of traffic to ecommerce sites is from bots and for hotly anticipated sneaker releases, nearly 100% of traffic comes from bots. Here, Klarna has identified a specific community, played into its passion point and solved a genuine problem.
As David Sandström, chief marketing officer at Klarna, told Contagious: ‘Klarna’s mission is to elevate the shopping experience and help people get what they love. One way to do this is by identifying passionate communities where shopping plays a significant role but where it currently doesn’t run as smoothly as it should. By addressing and solving pain points in creative and unexpected ways, we aim to drive engagement while at the same time showing that Klarna adds real value to the shopping experience.’
Slippery slope / Klarna, known for its ‘buy now, pay later’ offering, is now one of Europe’s largest banks, with 85 million customers across 200,000 merchants in 17 countries, according to the brand’s website. With no interest fees or late charges, it’s easy to see why it might be an appealing option for budget-savvy consumers. However, the brand has reaped plenty of criticism for trapping people in debt and encouraging impulsive spending. In response, the brand has launched KlarnaSense, a campaign that uses retail psychology to promote more mindful shopping, challenging consumers to ask themselves three questions before they check out: Do I love it? Will I use it? Is it worth it? With its Heartbeats4Sneakers campaign, Klarna reinforces this message by appealing to a niche community that loves a particular product, will use it and consider it worth the price tag.
Drab to fab / As Contagious has noted before, since 2006 Klarna has consistently defied its category and reinforced its position as a smooth operator with a host of quirky campaigns including its 2016 film of a slippery fish travelling down a slide and across the floor and its series of ads last year in collaboration with Snoop Dog.
Although financial institutions have a hard time making the services they offer understandable or interesting for customers – let alone exciting – Klarna’s Heartbeats4Sneakers campaign (even down to its slightly out-of-this-world promotional video) is fresh, fun and innovative. All the while, it’s staying true to Klarna’s purpose to offer a ‘smoooth shopping service’ and helping the brand stick in potential customers’ heads.
