How Herschel Supply’s branded content inspired a new product launch

Herschel Supply’s online content series, titled “Well Traveled,” is a feed of shared travel stories from photographers visiting destinations like Kerala, India, Tel Aviv, and New York City. The blog, updated weekly and told in the form of photo essays, is meant to show Herschel’s backpacks, satchels and duffels in action all over the world.

Well Traveled, launched by one of the company’s founders after a trip to China in 2010, has since documented trips to 130 countries, and its corresponding hashtag (#WellTraveled) pulls 700,000 image results on Instagram. The “global exploration” ideal of Herschel’s brand, which inspired the blog, also spawned its most recent partnership with Coca-Cola.

“The goal of Well Traveled is to reach every country in the world, and so we matched that with a product you can find in 99 percent of the world,” said Mikey Scott, global marketing director for Herschel Supply. “We wanted to tie our content to a product that could reach a very broad audience.”

The collaboration with Coca-Cola is Herschel’s second partnership with the brand. The first was a limited capsule collection sold through a Parisian retailer that sold out in one day. The Well Traveled collaboration is hoping to scale the success of the first collection by being more widely broadcast: the red and black luggage pieces, branded with the Coca-Cola logo in different languages, are on sale online, at a New York City pop up shop, and promoted on social media through the Well Traveled hashtag.

The Herschel and Coca-Cola collection.
The Herschel and Coca-Cola collection.

While Scott believes that Herschel’s online content is not “blatant product push,” the brand’s goal is to put Herschel’s collections into context. Scott said that context, when paired with a new product launch, helps drive conversion.

“It’s always great to surround a product with other elements of success — like the Well Traveled series — and feel confident about it. In this case, Coca-Cola fit into our content series, which reflects our product,” Scott said.

Herschel frequently partners with other brands in order to expand its product reach. In the past, the company has worked with Disney, Clarks, New Balance and more on new collections. Scott said each one builds upon the online storytelling the brand is telling through its content — in addition to Well Traveled, Herschel also runs an online magazine called “The Journal.”

“Each time we bring something new to market, there’s a storytelling angle,” said Scott. “Our brand is based on fashion, travel and design. When we partnered with Disney, we focused on bringing their iconic character design to life.”

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