HAPPY SOCKS @PFW in front of Anna Wintour? Tripling the team in 3 Months and my 1st anniversary - celebrated with a 'new' role and title ??

Read the story on how we placed the socks in front of Anna Wintour @PFW? How my team grew x3 in 3 months? The evolution of my one year anniversary and stepping into an evolved role & title + many more things including: 4 Fashion weeks in one year(!) US plans and focus + a summer full of Olympics and Soccer mania.

To quote our CEO during a session where we were supposed to create a linkedin plan for him;

"Aida, i've been busy doing - over writing about it" Alexander Meyer

and to be honest i broke the 8 week idea update i had when starting this journey. It's honestly been to much to do, to even stop and type it all down - and i guess it speaks to the philosophy i strongly live by;

"You should spend time where time disappears. In work that feels like play. In passions that feel like flow. With people that make hours feel like seconds. The more present you are, the quicker the present goes. That's the paradox. A full life goes fast. But in the end, time that flies, is time well spent." - Zach Pogrob

So are we ready for this 8x3 weeks = 6 months update?

Speaking of the CEO, read all about the first year with him at the steering wheel over at Forbes written by the impressive Angela Chan - Danisi and enabled by our new communications partner across the pond Redgert Comms with Daniel Redgert as my bouncing board of ideas and actions.

So ready to amp up the US efforts even further and drive Happy Socks new growth framework for translating cultural heat into commercial success. How does one build buzz on a budget? How does one tap into cultural relevance that still resonates and makes an impact for the brand? Big questions that i've spent the past year - testing, learning and challenging, both how the company has operated and was operating when i joined, to where we are now. Will definitely keep challenging as that's just a natural part of my persona - the way for me to do the best of what i can do is to feel things are done not just for the reason of 'tradition' and comfort but because it is believed to be the right way forward. I will lean into strategical plans for the new phase of Happy Socks as the disruptive brand it once was.

Absolutely ready and excited for this transition into the Global Head of Communications & Culture Marketing, role.        

Even more excited to have a leader who understands the value and importance of the work i do Fiona Murchison .

It's funny with titles, because there are so many new ones and the ones that are hard to explain for the crowds who have only been, and are working in more traditional fields and companies. What this updated title means in a more in depth explanation;

• Overseeing the creation of key messaging and narratives that align with business objectives and brand ethos.
• Deliver multi-channel Comms strategies (social, digital, traditional media) and targeted partnerships organic and paid with media, VIP, creators and celebrity.
• Direct innovative 360° communication strategies to explore new, creative ways to integrate the brand into industry-relevant conversations and tap into new audiences, culturally relevant strategic projects/campaigns/collabs, experiential retail.
• Manage the global Comms Agency network to gather measurable results and lead them to deliver brand heat on the ground.
• Lead the Communication/Activation/Social Media teams to deliver (great) results.
• Partner with the design team to identify key trend products and designs for special projects.?
• Define innovation opportunities and special projects.

So in comparison to the role i stepped into that was merely brand comms focused, the evolved role has a whole layer of innovation and unconventional methods and practices for creating and ensuring brand heat and cultural relevance on a global scale.

How exciting?        

And when on the topic of excitement, can we discuss my legs, feet and socks strutted past Anna Wintour on the frow this paris FW? - no i did not walk the runway, but i did in fact walk on the runway infront of her - this isn't me gushing (or is it? ??) it is me seeing the irony of having worked in some of the major fashion capitals, attended countless FW's and having represented high-end designer brands and never having crossed paths with the legend. To me now working at a; in short words sock company - strutting infront of Anna the legend of our times in Fashion? Your read the irony right?

Read all about our participation at PFW SS25 on the happy blog

And please check out the winning content from the backstage created by parts of my team ping Pedro Spisla on the mic - Elsa Hansson with the camera and Beatrice Bredvik keeping the mood right.

If you are curious to know which Gabriella Karefa- Johnson's sock for life would be from our FW24 collection i suggest you click the image below to find out.

So what's the idea behind these Fashion week integrations? How did we end up here? From never having been included or hosted an own runway, to be hosting the World's first sock runway at Berlin Fashion week, joining Rave Review at Milan Fashion Week with our Happy Socks LAB concept, Copenhagen Fashion Week with Rolf Ekroth and now Paris FW with Torishéju all done and executed during 2024 (!)

Low key impressed by us, but at the same time knowing myself to be an all in or all out persona, helps to understand when doing something, i truly believe it has to be done FULLY to leave impact. Brands today are all looking for the next cultural hit - an idea, a product, a piece of entertainment that is viewed by a large number of people that then share and talk about it. I would say Fashion shows - even if the phenomenon is as old as the history books, is still today one of the most viewed and engaging fashion artforms. Not all, obviously. But if done right, with all aspects from music - talent - casting - location - collection + story it is definitely that one thing that ties all generations together, wether gen z or boomers; Fashion shows still have that allure, sense of elevation and entertainment all in those very short 15 min of execution.

For Happy Socks Fashion shows is a way of supporting and engaging with the emerging talent and stars on the rise. Staying true to our brand mission;

We are after-all founded out of pure creativity and always on the look-out for how a simple product such as socks can be transformed and interpreted to speak to everyday feet or runway looks at PFW.

Obviously not running this quick alone, because i'm not flash or Usain Bolt. I've had the HONOR to grow the Social team to go from a one-man show ping Pedro Spisla to a small soccer team of seven, all this in 3 months.

For the first time in Happy Socks history we held a content creator day - where 18 people were invited (out of 300+ applicants) to different workshops divided into groups, with the task to deliver engaging, entertaining content to help us create and set the tone for what the brand can be from a social first perspective.

We ended up hiring 4 creative minds, Inaara Valentine who started out as our intern 6 months ago, Tamilla Dowse , David Nehme , Elsa Hansson and have been working with two senior consultants Evie Wilson + Elisa Carassai to help shape and strengthen the focus on organic marketing for Happy Socks. I have had nothing but fun in this process and came back to one of the reasons why i even joined HS - to lead, coach and develop a team was one of the things i missed the most when running solo. It has been a true pleasure. A big win personally is that in this team of 7 we represent 10 different nationalities,

for those of you who know me, you also might know the history of me valuing that as the number one indication of the values a company beholds. Almost reached my personal record of having hired a team with 13 different nationalities currently we are covering Brazil to Azerbajan.

As we are stepping into a new growth phase - we will be hiring a senior Head of Social role to be announced soon so if you know any star out there that wants to work with me and the team on this next chapter please reach out - referrals value a lot.

Let's talk about the first results, i think this comment on tiktok where we forced the ceo to answer it says a lot ;) but overall this is what we have been focusing on

• Fine-tuning the in-house production process of the content created for Socials.
• Posting cadence: Shooting and posting daily content– moving from ad hoc posting on?social?to 1-2 posts daily.

The first two months implementing this new tactic have lead to a 40% increase in plays and an 18% increase on impressions on Instagram as well as a 40% increase in followers on TT.        

What else?

The summer was full of Sports - The Happy Way.

From hosting the very first "The Happy Games" = if Swedish midsummer games and Soccer had a baby. Were we incorporated the all fun & play mentality of Happy Socks and did our own Olympics at the Tempelhof fields in Berlin with the amazing community of OOO with Yunus Mahmoud supported by our agency Silk Relations GmbH - Lea Vogl .

I love our Berlin community, feels like a family of creatives, og's and real ones.

Check out the content from the happy games HERE, here and the recap video here

We ended the games by watching Germany crush Scotland in the first soccer game of the European Soccer tournament in a beautiful loft curated by Friends of Friends in Berlin with the Berlin community. A win.

That amount of work and this level of dedication to build the happy community in our other key markets is being set in motion as we speak, with a newly signed PR partner in London and research for the right partner in France.

With me on that journey i have the little machine.

Yes, that's how i call her, here pictured doing what she does best - delivering beyond every possible thought and expectation Beatrice Bredvik is my left hand, right hand, leg - brain whatever you wanna call her. It's interesting as i have never worked with someone who knows what i want, am expecting etc without having to fully even say it - impressive.

Thank you Max Lebo? for recommending her, can't thank you enough.

More about what she does in this video (lol) linked in the image below, with a beautiful voice over from our PR & Social intern Pedro Santos Pinheiro

Spotted - the royal babies of Riri and Asap in Happy Socks.

One last highlight of the unconventional parts of my work.

Skate or dive watch the link - you will not regret it.

Skate or dive is the first of it's kind in Stockholm - hosted by my childhood friend Adam Widén a skating competition where there was a cash prize if you reach the end of the rail before diving into the water.

The turn up was insane, skaters, families, the cool kids and the seniors - everyone, all ages all vibes - again leaning into why we do certain things. Because Happy Socks is pretty ageless, it can fit everyone and anyone as long as your vibe is authentic and true to yourself.

I think i've covered enough ;)

And even if no one actually reads this, it is genuinely for myself, my journey and a work diary in a way.

Talk to you soon.

xA