Foot Locker, Nike kick it with hometown rappers, athletes to honor sneaker culture

Dive Brief:

Foot Locker announced an exclusive Nike sneaker collection called "Home & Away" to celebrate the sneaker communities in Houston, Atlanta and Miami, with each shoe featuring a "Home" or "Away" colorway, according to a news release provided to Marketing Dive. The concept will expand in 2019 with the addition of new cities and silhouettes.
The brands are partnering with rappers and athletes to bring the campaign to life and represent their cities through exclusive digital content, including Denzel Curry and Hassan Whiteside for Miami, Maxo Kream and Dallas Keuchel for Houston, and YFN Lucci and Calvin Ridley for Atlanta. Foot Locker is collaborating with Maxo Kream to celebrate his love for Houston through a series of "giveback moments" to his community, which he will reveal on his social media channels this week.
The "Home" shoes will drop in their respective markets and online on Dec. 6, followed by the "Away" drop — available in select cities and online — on Dec. 22. Nike and Foot Locker also extended the"Discover Your Air" campaign to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Nike Tuned Air, and will air additional video content online.

Dive Insight:

Foot Locker continues to leverage its longtime relationship with Nike through exclusive footwear products and campaigns featuring rich storytelling that taps into the growing "sneaker head" culture. For "Home & Away," the brands are celebrating popular sneaker communities with special products and digital films featuring hometown rappers and athletes. While enlisting celebrities isn't always the best approach for connecting with younger consumers, who are driving the sneaker trend and are typically less responsive to celebrity endorsements, the authenticity of the Nike-Foot Locker content series featuring celebrities discussing what they love about their cities will likely resonate.

The campaign follows the August launch of "Discover Your Air," a new Foot Locker creative platform that pays homage to the retailer for being one of the original destinations of Nike Air products in the 1990s. The effort featured the launch of two new collections and a YouTube video starring NBA player Jayson Tatum, who opened a time capsule full of '90s-era items. The digital content ran on Foot Locker's Instagram and YouTube channels, and the campaign included events, such as a skate party and Foot Locker takeover in Houston to provide visitors with shopping experiences, local food and giveaways.

"Home & Away" isn't the first time Foot Locker has partnered with artists to tell the stories of new product releases. The campaign follows "Before and After the Bite," which featured artists and musicians sharing the story of two new Nike Air Max Plus sneakers. The campaign's theme was built on the hunger for recognition that up-and-coming artists have and the ongoing desire to hustle after having their first taste of success.