Dive Brief:

• Foot Locker is kicking off a new digital campaign called "We Live Sneakers" to promote an exclusive line of footwear and apparel, the retailer revealed in a press release shared with Marketing Dive. The "Evolution of the Swoosh" collection features several classic Nike logos including Carolyn Davidson's original 1971 hand-drawn "Script Swoosh" design as well as the 1972 "Sunburst" pinwheel and the "Swoosh Chain," other early versions of the iconic logo.
• The campaign highlights the history of Nike's logo and promotes the new limited-edition products that are exclusively available from Foot Locker for a limited time. The "Script Swoosh" items went on sale Aug. 10, while the "Swoosh Chain" will drop on Aug. 17 and the "Sunburst" products on Aug. 31.
• A digital video spot to accompany the product drops includes a number of musicians and influencers including basketball player D'Angelo Russell, musician Anuel AA, rapper Da Baby and singer Justine Skye, among others. The Times is the agency behind the new digital effort, which runs across social media channels such as YouTube and Twitter with the hashtags #EvolutionOfTheSwoosh and #BecauseSneakers.

Dive Insight:

Foot Locker and Nike have partnered for years on promoting footwear to mass audiences and establishing a "sneakerhead" culture, and the latest "We Live Sneakers" campaign appears to be a nod to that historic partnership and the iconic role Nike shoes have played in pop culture. The campaign follows last year's "Home & Away," a collaboration that celebrated popular sneaker communities with special product drops and digital films featuring hometown rappers and athletes.

As with "Home and Away," the duo's latest digital campaign taps sports and music stars, along with social influencers, pointing to the marketing strategy's target audience of millennial and Gen Z consumers that are tuned into sneakerhead culture and may be interested in the new product line. Celebrating the iconic swoosh, the "We Live Sneakers" campaign is ripe with nostalgia and well suited for social media. If the brands can drum up a social conversation through the hashtags, they'll elevate their exposure and position themselves as top-of-mind brands when key consumers shop online or in stores.

By partnering with Nike on exclusive, time-sensitive products, Foot Locker is strategically adding an element of urgency that encourages people to buy as soon as possible. The campaign is timed with back-to-school shopping, around which Deloitte predicts consumers will spend a collective $15 billion on clothing and accessories — the most spent on any category — during this key annual shopping season. With the average household spending $519 per kid on apparel and supplies for the new school year, Foot Locker is smartly looking to capture those dollars and boost sales for the next quarter.

The timing is right for the retailer to lean on a heavy-hitter supplier like Nike, as Foot Locker missed its mark in its latest earnings. In May, the company saw its shares drop 10% in premarket trading, after reporting a net income of $2.08 billion in Q1. While sales were up over 2018, the retailer missed analyst projections of $2.12 billion, placing a greater need on the second half of the year to drive sales and round out 2019.