DSW Aims to Surprise Its Customers With New Brand Vision, Product Mix

Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) is kicking off the unofficial start of fall with a new look.

The Designer Brands-owned retailer has launched a complete brand repositioning centered around its new tagline, “Let Us Surprise You.” The company noted that the refresh “signals a significant evolution for the brand, one that reimagines both the in-store and digital customer experience and reasserts DSW’s relevance in the rapidly changing retail landscape.”

Laura Davis, president of DSW, told FN in an interview that “Let Us Surprise You” is the result of months of gathering customer insights.

“We partnered with Los Angeles-based creative agency Crispin to do all kinds of qualitative and quantitative deep dives with our customer,” Davis said. “Everything from how they think about shoes, what gets them to buy shoes, what do they love about shoes and even what makes them nervous about buying shoes.”

The retail executive noted that DSW is bringing this new vision to life through a new campaign, its in-store experience and through its product assortment. As for the campaign, “Let Us Surprise You” comes to life via a visually vibrant series featuring individuals styled to highlight their personalities through footwear.

Campaign creative will roll out across CTV, social media, in-store signage, and DSW.com, supported by an energetic new brand commercial, featuring Sydney Moss, a former dancer from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

DSW is also set to partner with comedian Heather McMahan to roll out a special social content series to drum up excitement for the brand-new positioning. A new logo is also making its debut that was designed to “reflect the optimism, motion, and modernity of the DSW customer,” the company noted.

“With this campaign, we want people to come into our stores with no assumptions,” Davis added. “We want them to walk into DSW and be like, ‘Wow, I can get that shoe at DSW?’ That’s the surprise we want to leave them with.”

As for what consumers can expect in-store, DSW has transformed its Framingham, Mass. store into a test site for company. The new design now features AI-enabled mirrors to help shoppers visualize shoes with different outfits, a dedicated try-on area to encourage exploration, a customization corner and immersive brand visuals tied to the “Let Us Surprise You” messaging throughout the space.

“We’re excited to have this store as a framework,” Davis said. “Some of the store’s more advanced features will be rolled out to other locations as we test and see what customers are saying about them.”

As for product, Davis noted that over the last 18 months, the DSW merchant team has worked extensively to realign its product strategy to reflect shifting market preferences, and made enhancements by onboarding fresh, buzzworthy brands. Some of these new additions include Blundstone, Bombas, Frye & Co. and Goodr.

Merchants are now placing a sharper focus on emerging trends in real time including court sneakers, cowboy boots, and kitten heels, categories that are outperforming in the fashion footwear segment.

“I give our merchants a ton of credit,” Davis said. “They’ve been pouring over the Atlanta shoe show, FFANY in New York and listening to our customers. We keep going after those brands that customers want, and frankly, creating and leveraging more of our strategic partnerships with those top brands.”

Bottom line, “Let Us Surprise You,” is all about starting fresh. “You know, DSW didn’t really have previous tag lines that we stuck with,” Davis added. “And ‘Let Us Surprise You’ is a step forward in the right direction. It’s something we can rely on to create more trust with our consumers on a more consistent basis.”