Heather McMahan Is Solving Shoe Emergencies With Help From DSW in New Campaign

DSW is back with actress and comedian Heather McMahan for a humorous take on shoe emergencies.

In the Designer Brands-owned retailer’s new “Shoemergency” campaign, McMahan serves as DSW’s “Field Specialist,” where she rescues customers from real-life shoe dilemmas.

The campaign will follow the comedian as she leads customers through common shoe-related emergencies. Promoted from “store associate” in season one to “field specialist,” McMahan is now tasked with solving the shoe-emergencies of DSW customers. From being overdressed to underdressed and every predicament in between, McMahan saves the day with humor, heart, and the perfect pair of shoes, the company noted.

Kelly Ballou, vice president of marketing strategy and creative for North America at DSW, told FN in an interview that the campaign comes as a result of the retailer wanting to brand into more “emotive storytelling” and is an extension of the company’s “Let Us Surprise You” repositioning, which launched in September.

“We started the repositioning work with ‘Let Us Surprise You,’” Ballou said. “We are really dialing in our brand voice, and at the end of the day, we think that shoe shopping should be fun, and it should be easy. So, someone like Heather McMahon, she brings the fun to shoe shopping. She brings the fun to our campaign. And we really just wanted it to be more entertaining and lighthearted, but do it through the lens of solving a real emergency for consumers.”

The executive also explained that the campaign highlights DSW’s range of services, such as same-day delivery and in-store pick-up.

“Because we have 500 stores in the United States and because we offer same-day delivery through our partnerships with the likes of DoorDash, and because you can buy online and pick-up in-store quickly, we realize that we just really have a solve for that consumer need for fast service,” Ballou added. “So that’s really the genesis of the campaign.”

What’s more, DSW will kick off a multi-city tour to solve shoemergencies across the U.S. next month. The mobile pop-up will kick off in Los Angeles on May 1 and make its way to Dallas, Nashville, and Philadelphia, and will wrap up in New York City at Union Square. Visitors to the pop-up will be as create their own personalized Shoemergency kit.

“The tour will be a fun way to bring this concept to life for our customers,” Ballou noted. “We’re excited to bring this to them.”