UNIQLO launched its popular UT Grand Prix t-shirt design contest eight years ago, annually canvassing for designs, then holding a vote among select fans for the favorites and working from these to produce unique UTs.

For its tie-up with Coca-Cola, the UT Grand Prix successfully attracted designs from 72 countries worldwide. To do this, the UT Grand Prix welcomed submissions through UNIQLO’s local language websites across Japan, the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and UNIQLO and Coca-Cola together spread the word via Facebook.

From the promotion and sourcing of designs to the final selection and launch, the campaign was entirely web-based and adhered to global standards - safely maneuvering relevant market rules across the full range of countries from which participants took part.

Coca-Cola, the world’s most iconic beverage brand, partnered with Japan’s most cutting-edge fashion retailer, Uniqlo, for the 8th Annual UT Grand Prix T-Shirt Design Contest.

The UT Grand Prix program was a chance for two design-forward brands to join forces to inspire the next generation of graphic and fashion designers. Using T-shirts as a blank canvas, entrants from around the world were invited to create designs inspired by Coca-Cola. Entries were judged by a line-up of world-class designers, as well as by on-line fan voting. The ten winning designs were produced, and sold at Uniqlo’s stores around the world.

Through this competition, Coca-Cola and Uniqlo inspired the next generation of graphic and fashion designers. We received over 6,000 design submissions, the highest number of submissions in the UT Grand Prix history. The gamified fan voting site received 83,860 votes, and 291,351 page views. The final ten designs were sold at over 830 Uniqlo retail outlets in Japan, US, UK, Russia, France, China, HK, TW, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as online, and generated over 4.5m USD in retail sales. Over 1m USD PR value was earned, including key features on Teen Vogue, GQ, Yahoo, and Hypebeast. A campaign ROI of 18:1 was achieved, as well.