Phase I: Incubate

Generate buzz with press and influencers prior to the launch through a unique experience/activation.

Generate excitement with streetwear natives to drive demand leading into the June 16 fashion launch.

Phase II: Fashion Launch

Bring P.O.D. SYSTEM to life at key fashion boutiques to celebrate launch.

Produce content geared for demographic to support the P.O.D. global launch.

Phase III: Education & Extension

Build momentum from fashion launch to commercial launch in early August.

Create cultural moments through consumer-facing stunts and activations that create earned coverage.

Phase IV: Reason to Buy

Build demand through our strategic retailer partners.

Develop unique POV for exclusive retailer content.

Phase V: Sustained Education & Extension

Continue to build momentum and bridge the gap between the Aug and Oct product deliveries.

Granular focus on influential micro-communities in key cities.

A large, multi-year strategy was developed to commercialize a new footwear franchise - the adidas P.O.D. System. In early June 2018, the premiere of the adidas P.O.D. system was introduced to the market with strategic seeding via the industry’s most influential streetwear experts in a high profile billboard campaign, immediately followed by the micro-launch of the lead colorway exclusively to fashion boutiques and a targeted launch exclusively with the professional sneaker collector audience through collaborative experiential events. Over the course of the summer (3mths), the campaign continued to build energy and excitement around the P.O.D. system leading into the commercial launch on August 2. The objective was to generate a dialog with the streetwear native, where they lived through outdoor and digital, and create a dialog through streetcred for the influencer in an integrated high profile campaign with multiple communication feedback loops.

The Streetwear Native are youths and adults raised with pervasive technology–Men (80%), Women (20%)

They are part of a cultural and ethnic melting pot, immersed in streetwear through digital media throughout their lives. As such, they possess a deep knowledge of streetwear and its associated brands. Influences include top & street fashion labels, rappers, and athletes. They are native to shop boutiques, online, vintage stores, and sneaker shops.

Reaching key stores and hyper-local streetwear influencers can be especially challenging due to the inherent cynical nature of the industry. By calling out our influencers directly with OOH custom targeted billboards and local maker events, we were able to provide adidas with a direct and high-profile dialog with retailers and influencers, delivering surgical accuracy and reach while generating buzz with the followers of the identified key social media influencers.

The campaign featured fully immersive events in 5 key cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami. A highlight of the campaign featured customized billboards inscribed with personal messages addressed to local influencers prompting them to check adidas Originals social media portals to collect a free pair of P.O.D.s. To receive the shoes, influencers needed to post about the shoe and tag #podsystem. The campaign was comprised of five music, art and maker workshops in key cities, a media dinner for 18 top street culture editors, an OOH analog direct messaging to 29 hyperlocal influencers via targeted local billboards in the 5 cities and 110 media kits to key editorial earned 49 million total campaign impressions in just three months.

101,434,000 social impressions in less than 3 months

564,623 social engagements

2646 social mentions

49,356,000 total media impressions

100 hours of open-source creating by attendees

7 sold out creator led workshops

3000 VIP attendees over 4 days

adidas was able to directly invest in the long game with their influencers with more earned (vs. paid) loyalty and voice through direct yet high-profile DM’s reimagined as billboards.

VIP events took the influencer dialog outdoors which resulted in growing impressions for both adidas and the influencers in tandem.

The campaign was heavily covered in industry media such as WWD, Adweek, Highsnobiety, Sneakernews, NiceKicks, and Hypebeast.