Case study: How Vessi uses Tracksuit to validate its marketing strategy in the US and Canada

VessiOpens in new tab debuted as a brand on Kickstarter in 2017, touting an innovative product: the world's first 100% waterproof knit shoes.

The pitch by the Vancouver-based business? The shoe’s patented knit technology means the wearer’s feet are protected in all types of weather and seasons.

“Through our waterproof footwear and apparel we’re on a mission to make getting outside and experiencing the magic of water easier, comfortable, and more joyful.” Andy Wang, one of the Co-Founders of Vessi Footwear, told news outlets at the time. 

“With our proprietary knit blend and nano-filtering membrane, we’ve managed to create a material that keeps the water out yet provides breathability and flexibility like a regular shoe.”

Fast forward to 2024, and the brand has sold more than 1 million pairs of shoes worldwide.

How Vessi is using Tracksuit to fine tune its marketing strategy

Vessi is using Tracksuit to monitor brand health in North America both in its mother land, Canada, and in the United States. 🇨🇦🇺🇸

Tracksuit’s data shows Vessi’s value prop of ‘Waterproof’ is coming through loud and clear with consumers in Canada: "waterproof," "rainproof," and "protective," are regularly mentioned to describe the brand, indicating a strong emphasis on functionality and weather resistance.

Of those aware of the brand, 50% also believe Vessi is innovative – again, showing its strong ties to the unique point of difference about its footwear.

When it comes to Vessi’s wider marketing strategy, Tracksuit’s data has provided valuable insights into where there’s room for growth.

As a fast-growing direct-to-consumer brand, Vessi previously relied on digital channels to convert and reach new consumers in its earlier years.

While performance marketing on channels like Meta and Google has served the brand well, in 2024, its strategy is evolving.

Tracksuit’s data has helped the team – led by Vessi VP of Brand Geoff Wilton – recognise an opportunity to build brand and create Future Demand for its products.

When looking at Vessi’s marketing funnel, the brand has strong conversion rates towards the bottom of the funnel (consideration to investigation and usage) but the team recognised a job to be done on the awareness layer.

These findings helped Geoff and his team get stakeholder buy-in to build on Vessi's brand perception beyond its functional benefits to an emotive connection and meaning that customers feel towards the brand. This brand strategy evolution included a media investment into TV and streaming to build awareness in the US and Canada.

Using Tracksuit’s data, Geoff was able to get sign off and budget approval for TV advertising in the US and CA, with the same amount of budget allocated for both markets (check out the videoOpens in new tab that ran in the campaign).

“The Tracksuit data was the foundation for the business case for this media investment. It was able to help me paint a picture to our stakeholders that we need to build awareness to fuel our growth and bottom line," Geoff says.

In the Ontario, Atlantic Provinces and West Coast regions, Vessi saw a 5 percent increase after targeting those regions. To further validate their investment, in the regions where they didn’t roll out the TV strategy, they did not see this lift.

The regions Vessi was targeting:

The regions Vessi was not targeting:

By using TV and streaming to target broadly to reach a larger group of consumers, Vessi is building familiarity with consumers and the Vessi brand across North America.

In the US, Vessi’s brand tracking results post-campaign have unlocked further insights.

The team can now see they need a more targeted approach on these channels given the size of the market, and have used these insights to inform their marketing strategy for 2025.

“Combining Tracksuit data with our media insights helped us understand the level of investment and targeting approach needed to move the needle on brand awareness in the US relative to Canada,” Geoff says.

We’re excited to continue to work with a world-class brand like Vessi and be using data to unlock the most effective growth strategy for North America. Watch this space!