Ara is a really big shoe brand outside of North America. And while the German-based comfort brand has been growing quite nicely the past couple years, thanks to the tutelage of division president Sam Spears, its unofficial tagline here is: “Quite possibly the most comfortable shoe you’ve never heard of.”
Dr. Stefan Rassau, who joined the 76-year-old company as CEO last fall, is determined to put that tagline to rest. The exec possesses years of management experience in the footwear and fashion industries with an emphasis on marketing. Previous career stops include head of commercial operations for Calvin Klein in Europe, several leadership roles for Esprit in Europe, and managing director of Italy’s Bama Group, makers of durable plastics for home, gardening, and pets. Most recently, Rassau was a senior adviser at the consulting firm Team Retail Excellence.
Rassau is relishing the Ara opportunity, starting with the fact that its shoemaking abilities are already renowned. Even better, much of the marketing background work had been completed recently but not implemented. The company went through a leadership change and sold off a couple of subsidiary businesses. Now the sole focus is on building the Ara brand worldwide with a focus on North America.
“We’re now focusing on building brand awareness, which really hasn’t been done yet,” says Rassau, noting that he’s working with a clean slate. “We’ll be adding further value to our products through branding and storytelling. This is our next biggest chapter.”
Part of this effort involves working with a trend agency (a company first) that provides insights about what’s happening in art, architecture, fashion, and other relevant fields. That knowledge is being baked into seasonal collections. Think on-trend colors, materials, shapes, etc. There’s more science to it than just whims of the design team. It’s a cohesive story. “Now Ara will not only have the right products, but the entire packaging will be on-trend as well,” Rassau says, citing Tommy Hilfiger as an example of a brand that does an excellent job with the latter. “Their brand packaging is incredible and enormous. Consumers know that brand.”
To get a firsthand read on the North American market, Spears recently led Rassau on a two-week tour of key accounts starting in Montreal and finishing in Atlanta. The exec came through it encouraged by Ara’s growth potential. “We put 3,000 kilometers on that rental car visiting 15 to 20 stores and all with different concepts,” he says. “The consistent feedback was that our shoes are well-liked, and our customer service capabilities are super. We have a solid foundation, and now our mission is to get customers to come into stores asking for Ara.”
Rassau was quite impressed by at the quality of the retailers he visited. “They all had unique selling propositions, be it being extremely good at social media marketing, while others excelled as the neighborhood store and doing local marketing very well,” he says. One trait they all had in common: passion. “The employees were all highly motivated and passionate,” Rassau says. “The term ‘independent retailer’ here is true and inspiring.”
One store that especially stood out was Shepherd’s in Ottawa, which has an on-site studio to make videos for its social media feeds. Rassau, who was dubbed by owner Marlene Shepherd as the “European George Clooney,” was quickly cast for an Ara promo during his visit. Within minutes the team conducted the interview and it was posted that day. “It’s great entertainment in addition to retail,” Rassau says. “If you don’t bring that type of energy into a store, there’s little justification to exist. Consumers can just buy it online.”
