The collection features the American comic strip characters, and the app taps social by going beyond simply its shopping component. By including fun factors, Coach builds awareness for its Peanuts Collection of products and provides a platform to introduce its future products.

“Coach, for so many years, has been an American institution, so it seems fitting to honor that heritage with iconography that captures moments in American pop culture,” said Stuart Vevers, executive creative director at Coach, New York. “Peanuts and Snoopy were a rite of passage for a generation and continue to be so emotive.”

Wearing two hats
As its first stand-alone app of its kind, Coach is offering a mobile source of reference for shoppers in addition to games, photo activities and quizzes.

Users can browse the collection items that are presented in a clear format with large images.

Also, there is a Peanuts Photobomb tool that inserts the characters into users’ photos. Users can take a quiz to learn which character best describes them.

The Coach x Peanuts collection features Charles M. Schulz’s iconic drawings on Coach’s signature Glove Tanned leather.

Coach has also announced that a new collection of bags and accessories inspired by the neon lights in New York City. Called C.O.A.C.H., the collection is an acronym that stands for Cult of the Outrageous Atomic Carriage House.

The Coach app was developed in partnership with digital agency Isobar.

“We were excited to be selected by Coach as the development partner for their first iOS app,” said Dana Randall, engagement director at Isobar US. The CoachXPeanuts collection is a playful way to set the tone around how Coach plans to engage with their customers via the mobile landscape. “There is an exciting future planned for the Coach app and seeing this collection come to life is just the beginning,” she said.

The app is currently only available for free download on iOS devices. 

Mobile beginnings
The leather goods maker has recently embarked on a new mobile trek.

Coach recently launched a new internal application to streamline reporting and digitize the business from behind the scenes.

The retailer teamed with business intelligence solutions provider MicroStrategy to build the app for internal use. As retail becomes more digitized, Coach decided to explore options to become hands-on with data and offer quicker solutions to better its business (see story).

Earlier this year, Coach partnered with retail brand Poloraid Fotobar to promote an Instameet in New York June 14, where professional and amateur photographers could share their Coach New York stories.

Coach selected top Instagram photographers to participate in the making of a collaborative image story and printed the photos taken through Polaroid Fotobar’s mobile print shop. Coach also encouraged its followers to contribute and be a part of the story making (see story).

In 2011, Coach drove engagement and brand support and influenced purchase decisions via a mobile campaign that promoted its Kristin collection.

The company greeted iPhone and Android customers with in-store signage at all of its full-priced stores. Coach directed consumers to scan a QR code to view mobile-optimized content, which featured exclusive details on the collection (see story).

Coach’s incorporation of the Peanuts characters into its products and the app hopes to drive more interaction.

“There’s a particular image of joyful Snoopy that I’ve always loved and have in our studio that manages to capture so much feeling and emotion in a sketch,” Mr. Vevers said. “I was intrigued by the idea of taking that image and playfulness but subverting it.

“A rebellious spirit is contrasted with reassuringly natural Coach leather to create something unexpected.”

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York