John Lobb rebrands to open its doors to new generation of luxury customer
Luxury British footwear brand, John Lobb, worked with international brand consultancy, Yonder Consulting, to develop a new brand identity that aims to appeal to the next generation of shoe connoisseurs and luxury customers.
Originally founded in 1849 by a Cornish farmer who travelled the world hand crafting boots and shoes, today John Lobb is still run by his direct descendants. However, with the rising popularity of ready-to-wear luxury apparel, the benefits of bespoke fashion and footwear has been lost amongst the emerging breed of luxury consumer. It became necessary for John Lobb to find new ways of communicating, engaging and selling its merchandise in a post-Covid-19 world.
By launching a modernised visual identity and embracing digital capabilities, including an e-commerce website and social media presence, the retailer aims to demonstrate how a luxury brand can showcase its heritage, while simultaneously engage online with new audiences and younger consumers.
As the heart of the brand is the 9 St James shop in London, which plays a role in the visual identity with elements of its facade incorporated into the refreshed logo and new website. With international travel still minimal and many shoppers staying resolutely online, this helps John Lobb to connect emotionally with its customers and literally open its doors to an online audience.
“We know that to best serve the needs of our customers, evolution is necessary and with the transformation of the luxury sector, we wanted to bring 9 St James Street online opening our shop doors to our digital customers. We’re delighted that the brand refresh has showcased our heritage and uniqueness whilst also allowing us to connect with new audiences online,” says Nicholas Lobb, director of John Lobb.
The family history and heritage of the brand also plays a starring role in the brand’s new colour palette centred around burgundy, the grandson of the founder's favourite colour. The burgundy aims to represent warmth and richness, supported by a muted gold plate tone. The dark premium navy captures the craftsmanship of the brand, whilst the light ivory colour inspired by the colour of chiselled wood reflecting the shoe lasts aims to lifts the overall brand tone by contrasting with the other three richer colours.
In addition, the brand has distilled a new tone of voice for written communications and copywriting by examining 170 years of correspondence penned by the Lobb family. To further engage with the digital audience John Lobb created a new Instagram enabling it to showcase its products and reach new audiences.
“This is a really exciting time for John Lobb and we were thrilled to collaborate with them as they adjust to new realities for the luxury sector. To succeed it was critical to get under the skin of the business and discover what makes John Lobb unique and how to best express that online,” says Manfred Abraham, co-CEO of Yonder Consulting
