While Foot Locker was once the default option for a new pair of kicks, sneakerheads now have more options than ever between buying directly from producers like Nike or Adidas, secondary sneaker marketplaces (StockX, GOAT, etc) or competitive retail. To make matters worse, in the fall of 2020 COVID- 19 shut down all 909 stores across the US, grinding Foot Locker’s majority source of revenue to a halt.

These changing market dynamics led to a degradation of Foot Locker’s authority in one of their staple Nike products – the Air Max. But despite growing demand for the sneakers overall, demand at Foot Locker specifically for the products has been trending down YoY across North America. Our objective was to re-establish ourselves as the authority in Air Max, bringing sales back to Foot Locker from other retail, DTC channels, or secondary marketplaces.

To prove that we were the Air Max experts, we created The Endless World of Air Max, a sneaker culture and entertainment hub on Google Slides. Matching the constant evolution of the Air Max, the hub served as an ever-evolving platform, hosting events such as livestreamed art sessions, Air Max Trivia, an Air Max fantasy bracket, hidden prizes, and more over a 22-week period. All while updating sneaker enthusiasts on Foot Locker's available product and linking directly to e-comm. Throughout this activity, a team of 3D hand-drawn illustrators, typographers and graphic designers constantly changed the visuals within the experience in real time to keep it exciting - even for return visitors.

We drove consumers to the experience via the organic reach of Foot Locker and influencer partners social channels where credibility for sneakerhead content was highest. Earned media from tech and sneaker focused publishers further amplified the effort.

Reestablishing our Air Max authority meant we needed to lean into a truth that truly encompassed what makes the shoe so special to our sneaker-obsessed target audience. WhatApp-based focus groups with sneakerheads led to our key insight: The Air Max is unique in that it’s constantly updating itself, having a fluid form that reflects the individuality of new generations of sneaker lovers.

With this insight as a foundation, we sought to grab consumer attention on a small budget in a place where our audience was present, but our competition wasn’t. Data exploration presented a very interesting finding – sneakerheads over indexed on usage of Google Docs, using them to track releases, monitor resale prices, join raffles, or collaborate on their own creative pursuits. So, we set out to execute an experience for sneakerheads by creating our own media channel that mirrored the constant fluidity of the Air Max

The experience went live on September 1 and evolved over the following 22 weeks, initially leveraging the organic reach of Foot Locker and influencer partners to bring consumers in. An earned strategy that reached beyond typical category coverage amplified awareness across tech- relevant publishers, and interest in the campaign from Google earned the experience further amplification on their social channels.

With a paid media budget of only $225,000 we needed every dollar to efficiently compliment the organic social reach of Foot Locker and our influencer partners. The entire paid budget went towards a partnership with UPROXX - an online publisher our audience over- indexed with and is known as a shaper of youth culture, covering topics from music and entertainment to style and sports. UPROXX was able to target campaign assets efficiently based on not just demo but interests such as street style, hip hop, and sneakers.

Because more buyers were opting for other options to purchase their Air Max, demand at Foot Locker was decreasing and so were their Air Max revenue forecasts. In 2020, the expectation was a 46% decrease in revenue from Air Max vs 2019 over the campaign period. Despite these significant headwinds, the campaign was able to blow expectations out of the water, leading to a 39% increase in revenue during the campaign period vs 2019. Based on total campaign spending, this led to an astounding 65:1 ROI on the initiative.

Given there was no campaign in-market during the same period in 2019, the Nike buying department at Foot Locker attributed such major revenue success entirely to the campaign. In fact, markdowns on Air Max products were down YoY vs 2019, and in-store traffic was significantly down YoY vs 2019 due to COVID-19, further contributing to growth headwinds compared to 2019.

Because more buyers were opting for other options to purchase their Air Max, demand at Foot Locker was decreasing and so were their Air Max revenue forecasts. In 2020, the expectation was a 46% decrease in revenue from Air Max vs 2019 over the campaign period. Despite these significant headwinds, the campaign was able to blow expectations out of the water, leading to a 39% increase in revenue during the campaign period vs 2019. Based on total campaign spending, this led to an astounding 65:1 ROI on the initiative.

Given there was no campaign in-market during the same period in 2019, the Nike buying department at Foot Locker attributed such major revenue success entirely to the campaign. In fact, markdowns on Air Max products were down YoY vs 2019, and in-store traffic was significantly down YoY vs 2019 due to COVID-19, further contributing to growth headwinds compared to 2019.