ABOUT

We were mid-global pandemic, consumer behaviour was changing rapidly, in a rapidly changing world. Was this the right time to bring back a 70’s brand with a new relevancy in what is a highly competitive market place? Hell yes!

Pony’s original consumers had grown-up somewhat since PONY’s 1980’s peak, so we were now potentially looking at a whole new market of consumers.

We broadened our research, speaking to consumers across the generations and focused on 2 key global regions. What we found was that no matter what age and what location, consumers wanted to feel comfortable expressing their individuality and had their own attitude. Too many sports brands currently operating in the market made consumers feel they had to fit a certain mould in order to wear their brand – it was time to change that.

Having identified the idea that PONY was the feisty underdog disrupter (utilising the TYC disrupter type matrix) we could highlight their differences from the big brand market leaders and connect with our consumers who wanted to go against the grain.

We also discovered that PONY means ‘Product of New York’! This was a great asset to build upon without making it a gimmick. The relevance of NYC wasn’t high on people’s agendas but its origins, that was something that we could work with.

We discovered that talking to our consumers on a level and forging a connection with them was what the sneaker market needed. It was about attitude and affiliation, not what sports our consumers played. The positioning “Bound by attitude” embodied this sense of belonging and connection which transcended demographics and invited anyone who shared Pony’s attitude to be part of this community we created.

From here the team ‘tweaked’ the identity to make it cleaner and fresher in today’s marketplace, introducing an entirely new colour palette, fonts and art direction (shot from the hip and candid). Shaped by the city, the brand maximised the elements from the street to make it hyper relevant and down-to-earth.

The result:
A brand that shouted alongside its consumers, championed self expression and unapologetically did things their own way.