Foot Locker—long a fan of playing it for laughs with famous athletes—is taking a different twist on its latest campaign, with a marketing program meant to build on the global culture of sneaker lust.
Themed “Pick Up Trips,” the stars of this campaign are unsuspecting sneaker fans, who request a newly released shoe only to learn it is not available in their size. Three of them are whisked away that same day to get their shoes at another store location—one that turns out to be across the pond. Video follows the real shoppers as they journey from New York City to Milan, from Toronto to Amsterdam and from London to New York City.
“One of the amazing things about sneaker culture is that it has become so global, uniting international youth culture,” says Jed Berger, VP/brand marketing. “Since we’re the sneaker retailer with a footprint all over the world, we wanted to celebrate that.”
Calling the effort a “kickoff to a more articulated global strategy,” he tells Marketing Daily that “moving forward, we will have more global launches. Foot Locker operates in some very aspirational cities—places like Paris, London and New York have a lot of allure.”
The film is running on the retailer’s social media channels, and documents Dashawn Martin from The Bronx as he collects his new Nike Air Max 97 in Milan, sipping cappuccino and visiting the Duomo di Milano; David Tyndale of Mississauga, Ont., eating Dutch fries and cruising canals in Amsterdam after picking up “Silver Bullet” shoes from Nike, and Londoner Luke Graydon, who zooms into the Big Apple to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, see the West 4th Street basketball courts and collect his new Nike Tuned Air shoes.
Foot Locker is also setting up Sneaker Selfie stations in stores in New York, Toronto, Paris and London, and it’s promoting two different social campaigns. First, #GloballyApproved will focus on exclusive global shoe launches. And #MySneakerStories invites sneakerheads, influencers and fans around the world to share personal sneaker stories. BBDO New York created the campaign.
Berger says that it’s no accident that the big push is timed close to Easter. In its latest quarterly results, the company says same-store sales rose 5% but predicted the current quarter would be more challenging. And “around the world, whether it’s linked to spring break or Easter holidays,” Berger says, “it tends to be a big shopping week.”
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This article first appeared in www.mediapost.com
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