Julz Shoes
Leading South African leather shoe wholesale brand explores DTC.
Introduction
sector
E-Commerce
Fashion
Julz Shoes is a leather shoes and accessories brand with a 15 year heritage. When our paths first crossed in 2021, they had a thriving wholesale business (supplying 100+ boutiques across the country), they however had modest online sales. They wanted to test whether a direct-to-consumer model could be feasible extension of their business.
Two years in, the results have confirmed this with a resounding YES!
Solution
People buy from people
When we met Julie, her charisma was undeniable. We knew that this would translate very well on camera and shortcut the trust-building process with her audience (middle aged women - who can often be skeptical to purchase online).
This worked exceptionally well – and so we doubled down on relatable video content, with Julz sharing more informal video updates giving shoppers insight into both her life and the brand!
Creating content centered on Julz’s personal narrative resulted in a particularly devout and invested community. It is an ever-evolving story, which creates sincere connection with her audience, has them feeling proud when wearing the brand and keeps them coming back for more.
Ad Creative
Landing Page Build
Results
8362%
Total Revenue Growth
The Julz Shoes online store has seen explosive total revenue growth of 8362% since starting with Vanha in March 2021.
9 → 546
New Customers Per Month
They went from 9 new customers per month in 2021 to 546 new customers a month in 2023.
2x
Recurring Customer Rate
We doubled their returning customer rate through comprehensive email automation flows.
Overview
- Julz joined forces with Vanha in March 2021.
- In year 1, proof of concept was established –building to an average of 150 orders a month.
- Over the next 2 years, average monthly revenue increased by another 543% - all while maintaining a ROAS (return onad spend) of 4x and above.
- Through website optimisations, upsell’s and cross sells, AOV increased by 20% - helping to improve the mediaefficiency ratio (MER)/ROAS while still scaling ad spend rapidly.
- Retention was a big focus: building a community and complimenting the experience with considered emails flows (pre-and post-purchase) was essential to improve repeat purchases without discounts.
- Email now accounts for more than 30% of revenue.
Graph
Branding
The look and feel of the Julz Shoes brand didn’t reflect the premium nature or the price point of the product – so we set out to refresh the branding. The intention was to evolve and mature the brand’s aesthetic, rather than to do a complete overhaul – all while maintaining the essence of Julz Shoes.
Julie Oates is the anchor of the business operation and the spirit of the brand - and we wanted to honour this in the brand refresh... So we got Julz to write her name out for us a hundred times.
We analysed the intricacies of her handwriting - and extracted the standout elements: the bold, gestural J, the fluid u which spills to gracefully into that final flick of the l... And finally the electrifying zing of her confident and punchy z! We combined these elements into a signature word mark that is as true to Julz herself, as it gets. When it came to the colour palette - we automatically thought slate grey: It feels assertive, established and tasteful, which is exactly what we were after.
However, if you've met Julz before (or even just seen some of her videos online) - you will know that she is not a grey girl. She is joyful, colourful, vibrant... and you will almost never see her without a bold lip or some bright nails to match! Her go-to lipstick shade is coral - and so that naturally become the primary accent colour of the brand.
What The Client Had To Say
From the moment we started working with VANHA, we knew they were the perfect fit to help us grow our brand. We’ve seen immense growth, not only in sales but also in our online following and e-mail subscribers, which has been incredible to witness! They have really helped grow our brand in every aspect possible!
