Skip to main content

Steve Madden Canadian Collection Launch: Made to Move

Client
Steve Madden
Services

TL;DR

5.5M+ Earned Influencer Impressions, 1M+ Paid Influencer Impressions, 1.8% Engagement Rate To forcefully break into the Canadian market with the “Made to Move” sneaker sub-brand, Steve Madden partnered with Sundae Creative. The challenge was generating awareness and demand against entrenched brands. The solution integrated a high-impact experiential activation (a Pilates event) with a national, two-phased influencer marketing rollout. This strategy successfully provided influencers with a unique way to engage with the product, resulting in over 5.5M total impressions and 152 pieces of content.

Steve Madden Canadian Collection Launch: Made to Move

Client

Steve Madden

Services

TL;DR

5.5M+ Earned Influencer Impressions, 1M+ Paid Influencer Impressions, 1.8% Engagement Rate To forcefully break into the Canadian market with the “Made to Move” sneaker sub-brand, Steve Madden partnered with Sundae Creative. The challenge was generating awareness and demand against entrenched brands. The solution integrated a high-impact experiential activation (a Pilates event) with a national, two-phased influencer marketing rollout. This strategy successfully provided influencers with a unique way to engage with the product, resulting in over 5.5M total impressions and 152 pieces of content.

Overview

Steve Madden aimed to break into Canada more forcefully with their sneaker sub-brand “Made to Move.” To do this, they engaged Sundae Creative to lead a launch that would integrate experiential and influencer marketing, building hype before retail activation. The core mission was to generate awareness for the new collection. The intimate launch event featured 29 influencers and provided an opportunity for guests to fully immerse themselves in the collection’s debut.

Challenge

Entering the Canadian sneaker market with a new sub-collection meant competing against entrenched local and global brands. Steve Madden needed to generate awareness, create authentic influencer content, and spark demand prior to in-store sales activation, all within tight timelines and budget constraints. The brand also needed an elevated event format that would stand out and avoid the repetitive nature of typical launch events, while fostering a personal connection between creators and the Steve Madden team.

Solution

Sundae Creative proposed a two-phased influencer approach. Phase one targeted macro influencers in British Columbia to seed high visibility, while phase two leveraged nano creators in Toronto to support an in-store consumer event. The strategy blended experiential activation–a Pilates class event–with creative content generation, encouraging real influencers to interact physically with the product. The event format successfully provided influencers with an engaging experience unlike other repetitive events. This strategic design fostered a more personal connection between the influencers and the members of the Steve Madden team.

Implementation

The campaign implementation involved detailed event execution and a national rollout: 

  • Event Execution: The team hosted 29 influencers at a high-energy, low-impact Pilates session at Sweat and Tonic in Toronto. The event featured branded moments including tonic shots and a catered meal post-workout. 
  • Influencer Seeding & Partnerships: Influencers received early product drops and were briefed on content themes. Notable paid collaborations included Marilou Belanger (F1 driver Lance Stroll’s girlfriend) and popular Toronto creator Torri Webster. 
  • Two-Phased Rollout: Phase one (macro) concentrated in BC, generating initial buzz. Phase two (nano) localized to Toronto, tying into the consumer event at Square One mall. 
  • Creative Guidance: Sundae managed content direction, logistics, and alignment with brand assets.

RESULTS

The integrated strategy resulted in strong awareness and content performance: 

  • 5,515,085 total impressions 
  • 152 total pieces of content 
  • 1M+ paid influencer impressions
  • $5.55 CPM
  • $1.82 Cost Per Engagement 
  • $0.01 Cost Per View 

The event attendance was exceptionally high, with only one drop-off, and demonstrated “great buzz” within the influencer community. Paid collaborations performed strongly, with Marilou Bélanger’s content generating 1.3M impressions alone.

5.5M+

EARNED INFLUENCER IMPRESSIONS

1M+

PAID INFLUENCER IMPRESSIONS

1.8

ENGAGEMENT RATE

5.55$

CPM

0.01$

CPV

1.82$

CPE

152

PIECES OF CONTENT

MORE ON THIS CAMPAIGN