VML creates “Are Those Neeman’s Shoes” campaign to hack voice data on smartphones

VML, the global brand, customer experience, and commerce agency has crafted a campaign called “Are Those Neeman’s Shoes”, its first for the digital-first footwear brand. In a partnership that began with the idea in January 2024, Neeman’s and VML worked with The Other Half, a boutique production company, to launch to increase awareness and traffic to the brand’s website and reach a wider audience.

Mukund Olety, Chief Creative Officer, VML, India, reflected on the campaign, stating, "Challenged by a tight budget, we were thrilled to create this guerrilla-style campaign with Neeman’s. We’ve all experienced it at times. Our phones are listening to us. We’ll be talking about something and minutes later an ad for that pops up on your phone. Some find it eerie but we wanted to use that power for good – Neeman’s good, to be precise.”

“Are Those Neeman’s Shoes Phone Hack” features two influencers traversing across the country, adorned in Neeman's Shoes, drawing attention with their loud, enthusiastic question, "Are those Neeman's shoes?". Trying to capture not only people’s attention but also that of their always-listening phones, the awareness campaign has hit its mark with a 19% uplift in brand search queries on Google and a strong increase in organic website sessions.

Amar Preet Singh and Taran Chhabra, founders at Neeman’s said, “At Neeman’s we are constantly innovating, whether it is our products or campaigns. With the ever-evolving digital landscape, the audience expects you to deliver never-before-experienced content to entertain them. It’s in our personality to stay curious, explore, and learn new mediums of engagement that bring forth a new perspective and open up conversations with the larger community. Working with VML and The Other Half, as partners on this campaign, was a refreshing experience for their understanding of content trends and tech has truly helped us spin together a campaign that we believe will score highly on wit, and impact. With the success of the initial launch, we are already planning to bring the campaign to more cities across India – so get ready for your phone to hear: “Are those Neeman’s shoes?” in a city near you!”