Initiative wins Timberland Boot brand’s first media planning and buying pitch

Initiative has won the media planning and buying business for premium heritage brand Timberland Boot Company following a competitive pitch against undisclosed agencies.

The media agency already holds the business for parent group Timberland UK but the heritage brand, which launched in September 2005, is run separately.

Initiative is the first media agency the group has used for the brand; planning and buying was previously managed between the creative agency and the in-house team.

Timberland Boot Company offers a male-only product range sold through independent stores. A standalone flagship branch opened in east London last year, with a consumer press campaign created by JJ Marshall Associates.

Further stores are due to open in London and Berlin in 2006 backed by a six-figure marketing campaign.

Adam Kakembo, senior marketing manager at the Timberland Boot Company, says the increased marketing activity will play an important role in growing the brand.

Timberland announced in summer last year that it was to launch the heritage range independent of the parent company. The move was seen by insiders as an attempt by the outdoor apparel brand to claw back its premium tag, which had increasingly become more mainstream.

Between 2003 and 2004, Timberland’s UK sales fell for the first time in five years, from &£52.7m to &£52.6m.