Timberland Global Brand President Nina Flood said she’s been willing to challenge everything at the brand as she’s worked to transform the company and return it to growth.
“All those sacred objects, the legacies, the untouchables — they’re all up for looking at and investigating to see what we need to transform,” Flood told the audience at NRF 2026 at Javits Center in New York City on Tuesday, alongside fellow VF Corp. presidents Caroline Brown of The North Face and Sun Choe of Vans.
The organizational structure, leadership team, planning process and global brand architecture were all due for a refresh, said Flood, who was appointed president in December 2023. And perhaps most importantly, Timberland needed to reset the culture, reigniting energy and belief in the brand, both internally and externally.
So far, her approach has been working. Timberland reported 7% revenue growth year-over-year (4% in constant currency) in its latest quarter ended Sept. 27.
Through change at the brand, Flood said it was important to retain the emotional aspects of what connects people to Timberland.
“As we were breaking down and rebuilding so many processes, I wanted to make sure that the teams have, locally, a safe harbor that they could return to and be inspired by,” she said.
Reigniting culture meant tapping into Timberland’s athlete and music community, and connecting it to the iconic yellow boot, which was originally designed to keep New Englanders working outside warm and dry.
“We created an always-on icon strategy,” she said, teaming up with people such as Spike Lee, Naomi Campell and Teddy Swims to customize their own boots or style them in their individual ways. Timberland created marketing content from those interactions and amplified it with a 360-degree marketing campaign. Collaborations with design houses like Louis Vuitton brought the products to new audiences.
“It feels like a wave of energy for the Timberland brand,” Flood said, noting that online brand searches have increased in the U.S. and key markets in Europe and resale of Timberland products are also “soaring.”
To maintain the energy, Flood said Timberland will have to stay present.
“That means looking at our retail stores as more than just the pinnacle expression of our brand, it means they have to be hubs for entertaining, engaging and interacting with our consumers,” she said.
Timberland’s transformation is still underway, Flood said.
“By no means is our transformation complete, but I would definitely say reignited energy around the brand and the team is in lockstep moving forward in the transformation,” she said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
Kate Robertson can be reached at kate@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
