News and Insights
World Shoe names FINN Partners as global integrated marketing agency of record
May 30, 2024
The new global company represents a pioneering approach to selling retail footwear made in Africa for consumers worldwide, with revenue driving humanitarian programs in low-income countries.
NEW YORK – Independent marketing and communications agency FINN Partners has been named Global Integrated Marketing Agency of Record for World Shoe. World Shoe is the first footwear brand to make antimicrobial, biodegradable shoes for global consumers in Africa. Visionary philanthropist Manny Ohonme leads the innovative company alongside a seasoned team of marketing, technology and social impact leaders, including veterans of Nike, Puma and Nordstrom.
“More than 600 million people worldwide do not have reliable access to footwear. I was just like them, having received my first pair of tennis shoes in a basketball competition as a nine-year-old growing up in Lagos, Nigeria,” said Manny Ohnome, President and founder of World Shoe. “Shoes are essential for preventing disease transmission, keeping kids in school and opening a world of economic possibilities. We’re excited to work with FINN to transform the footwear space with our revolutionary product and sustainable model.”
FINN will drive a comprehensive public relations and thought leadership strategy with World Shoe to create a new space in the global retail market for purpose-driven consumers who want to support improvements in health, education and economic opportunities for low-income communities, beginning in key African markets.
“World Shoe represents that rare brand that can serve as a change agent across multiple areas, sitting at the nexus of health, consumer, sports, purpose, education, sustainability and manufacturing,” said Richard Hatzfeld, Senior Partner, FINN Global Health Impact Group. “With our team of experts in Africa and around the world, and track record of leadership in all of the sectors World Shoe touches, we are committed partners with a social enterprise that has the potential to redefine how a lifestyle brand can improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
The World Shoe model represents a pioneering approach to integrating social impact throughout every aspect of the company’s value chain. The design of the shoes incorporates social good as a foundational principle; the company produces its shoes in Ghana in factories that are 80 percent staffed by trained workers from local communities, with a focus on environmental sustainability and equitable hiring practices; and partners are invested in leveraging commerce as an engine for lasting positive societal improvement.
Working with national governments and major health institutions, World Shoe matches its global commercial retail sales with humanitarian initiatives that distribute shoes to low-income populations, often as part of existing health or education initiatives.
Recently named by PRovoke Media as one of the best Consumer Marketing Agencies, one of Fast Company’s 2024 Most Innovative Companies, and a leader in global health communications, FINN Partners is leveraging its capabilities to establish World Shoe as an essential brand for the next generation of consumers looking to match purpose with purchase.
The unique hybrid model that World Shoe is developing – creating a commercial enterprise to fund an existing humanitarian initiative – requires a cross-disciplinary communications approach. “We chose FINN because they are one of the few global agencies who can field an in-house team of emerging market development and public health experts along with the retail consumer team that we need to launch our brand on two continents globally within a year,” said Astor Chambers, VP of Marketing at World Shoe. “The scale of our work requires an agency partner that understands our issues and can guide us efficiently to success. FINN does that.”
“As an agency, we pride ourselves on being champions of change. Our clients reflect the values we hold for ourselves and the world around us – innovative, bold, transformative and hopeful,” said Amy Terpeluk, Managing Partner, Global Purpose and Social Impact Practice Lead. “Through its ever-growing list of global partners, commitment to building truly sustainable business practices, and the potential for a simple but amazing line of footwear to improve the health and economic trajectory of millions of people, World Shoe represents the change we want to see in the world.”