Famous Footwear and Y&R Chicago Announce New Creative Agency Partnership

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Famous Footwear™, a division of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS, www.brownshoe.com) today announced its plans to attract new customers and energize its already sizable loyalty program through an ambitious brand building campaign led by Y&R Chicago.

Multi-channel marketing will be the main focus of Y&R's innovation, as Famous Footwear is committed to engaging with consumers on more innovative platforms. "We want to tell our story in a way that not only resonates with our consumers, but also excites them," said Famous Footwear senior vice president – retail marketing, Will Smith. "Y&R Chicago's brand building expertise, retail experience and capability to connect through a variety of traditional and emerging media will allow us to create a more connected dialogue with our consumers."

With this multi-channel outlook in mind, the agency will handle Famous Footwear's national advertising and consumer imagery, as well as contribute to various marketing and consumer relationship-building programs.

Famous Footwear began the search for a new agency in August 2011. "We are so appreciative of the incredible talent that came to us looking to help drive our business," said Smith. While several agencies from the Ad Age Family Tree made impressive presentations, ultimately the team at Y&R Chicago was selected because of their level of retail and brand-building expertise, strategic vision and superior campaign ideation.

"We're thrilled to be working with Famous Footwear," said Kary McIlwain, president of Y&R Chicago. "We are excited about our partnership, as the brand fits right into our retail wheelhouse. We are a strong local agency with real knowledge of their home market and a long history of building retail brands. But we are also part of the global Y&R network with its wealth of resources."

As a leading family branded footwear retailer, Famous Footwear is part of Brown Shoe Company's targeted Family platform, one of three strategic consumer focus areas for the company. Y&R Chicago will begin telling Famous Footwear's story of great brands and great values for the entire family in summer 2012.

About Young and Rubicam

Y&R is one of the world's leading global marketing communications companies. The agency's work spans the communications spectrum and reflects the transformation that digital has driven across all media. We bring together the most experienced and most passionate leaders in strategic planning, channel planning, digital proficiency, and creative to create exceptional storytelling campaigns that build strong connections between our clients and their customers all around the globe. For more information, go to www.yr.com.

About Famous Footwear

Famous Footwear is a leading family branded footwear destination, with more than 1,100 stores nationwide and e-commerce site FamousFootwear.com. The chain offers consumers more than 100 nationally recognized brands through its retail stores and web site, including Nike, Skechers, Naturalizer, Puma, Steve Madden, Converse, New Balance, DC, Rocket Dog and Carlos by Carlos Santana, and features a broad assortment of fitness footwear from brands like Skechers, Reebok, Avia and ryka. A proud national partner of the March of Dimes, the retailer sponsors March for Babies walk events nationwide. Famous Footwear is operated by the retail subsidiary of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS), a $2.7 billion global retailer and wholesaler of footwear. For more information, visit www.famousfootwear.com and www.brownshoe.com.

About Brown Shoe

Brown Shoe Company is a $2.7 billion global footwear company. Brown Shoe Company's Retail division operates Famous Footwear(TM), a leading family branded footwear destination with over 1,100 stores nationwide and e-commerce site FamousFootwear.com, approximately 250 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China primarily under the Naturalizer(R) brand name, and footwear e-tailer shoes.com. Through its wholesale divisions, Brown Shoe Company designs and markets leading fashion and athletic footwear brands including Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's(R), LifeStride(R), Sam Edelman(R), Franco Sarto(TM), Via Spiga(R), Etienne Aigner(TM), Vera Wang Lavender(TM), Avia(R), ryka(R) and Buster Brown(TM). Brown Shoe Company press releases are available at brownshoe.com.

SOURCE Famous Footwear