Nike is the world’s largest and most iconic sportswear brand, and Foot Locker is one of the world’s largest sneaker retailers. Foot Locker is constantly looking to stay relevant with a Gen-Z sneakerhead without alienating its millennial consumers.

Our goal was to leverage Nike’s Air Max Day to spotlight Foot Locker’s heritage as the go-to destination for sneakerheads.

We had two objectives.

Quantitatively: drive deeper engagement with our audiences, measured by meaningful viewing time on our content. Social media was the focus of the campaign, and most video on social is viewed for 3 seconds or less. Driving longer average view times was the best way to prove we captivated our audience, especially if we wanted to bring a cable network to life.

Qualitatively: connect with tastemakers in the sneaker community, knowing how influential they are to our audience.

A classic cable TV network, made for the internet.

Five original shows, including live shopping.

Three original commercials, inspired by classic Foot Locker ads.

Two dozen actors, athletes and influencers with over 35M total social media followers.

Cable Boxes filled with shoes.

And don’t forget the remote and TV guides.

We present to you: Discover Your Air Network.

We took shows Millennials loved in the 90s and reimagined them with the influencers Gen Z cares about today. Sitcoms, cartoons, fitness, news, and of course, Foot Locker commercials. We even created a live shopping experience on Twitch with a real 1-800 number to purchase exclusive product.

Cable-box-inspired seeding kits including the latest Air Max product were sent to influential tastemakers. Each box included a remote that played audio from the shows, and a TV guide featuring vintage-style Nike ads that also lived in retail and out-of-home.

We had two audiences, each equally important.

Gen Zs (13-20) obsessed with sneakers, always looking for the newest, coolest product, and often assume that if it’s sold at a retailer it’s not cool.

And older Millennials (21-34) who are out to collect rare products that have a story behind them.

We knew we needed a campaign that could appeal to both of them, and that would champion Foot Locker’s heritage.

A cable network gave us the perfect construct. Millennials know the classic show narratives, and each program featured modern day talent Gen Z loves. It’s also an immersive idea that would extend to in-store experiences, digital content and direct mail.

This was a massive production in a very tight window.

We took the idea from concept to execution in less than 6 weeks, including filming over a dozen total episodes of five original programs, three commercials, a live broadcast, cable-box themed influencer seeding kits with functioning remotes and TV guides, and a retrofitted retail store.

We cast two dozen influencers to star across the content, all of which required identification, outreach, negotiation and logistical planning to get the to set.

The campaign also balanced input and needs from Nike and Foot Locker, ensuring both brands were accurately positioned throughout the content. The final output was 20 total videos, including episodes and trailers for each show, a 1 hour live stream, 150 influencer seeding kits, remotes and TV guides, and a retrofitted Foot Locker store.

The cable boxes were sent to 150 global influencers with a combined following of over 51 million people. The unboxing experience was intentionally robust, and the influencers shared enthusiastic, detailed videos of the box and corresponding elements on their social channels.

The content shared by the influencers drove over 35,000 hours of total viewing from their audiences.