Dive Brief:

• Reebok is bringing back its Aztrek off-road running sneaker, which first launched in 1993. To celebrate, the brand will debut a '90s-themed content series titled "Aztrek: 90s Re-Run" featuring several influencers, according to a news release provided to Marketing Dive.
• The campaign features social media star Jay Versace, Sara Gourlay of streetwear label Frankie Collective, Kirk Tilton of clothing brand For All to Envy, "retro style expert" Jordan Page and vintage collectors and curators Josh Matthews and Angie Chavez. Each influencer was filmed wearing vintage '90s Reebok gear will demonstrate how they incorporate experimentation, originality and self-expression into their styles. The content series, shot on film, features off-road locations to show the sneaker as a performance shoe and iconic fashion item.
• Reebok is also giving away the individual capsule collections created by the influencers. Fans can enter to win on the brand's website.

Dive Insight:

Reebok continues to embrace a little nostalgia in its modern marketing tactics. This latest campaign brings back the '90s to promote the relaunch of the 25-year-old Aztrek, while also pulling in current strategies like a capsule collection, partnerships with up-and-coming artists and influencers, as well as a video series.

The retro-themed content featuring a variety of creatives will likely appeal to younger consumers' fondness for nostalgia, sneakers and limited-edition product releases. Reebok is also tapping into the growing secondhand shopping trend.

Video series and short films are growing in popularity as marketers look for innovative ways to reach consumers with fresh content. Viewership of original digital video, which is ad-supported, professionally produced and digitally distributed, increased 60% from 2013 to 2018, reaching 72 million, with the majority of viewers under age 34, tech-savvy and diverse, according to IAB research.

By leveraging the networks of social media stars like Jay Versace, the brand could appear more authentic than the traditional marketing strategy of celebrity endorsements. Many marketers now choose to work with influencers to better connect with consumers, according to a Linqia study released last year. The report noted that nearly 40% of marketers were planning to invest in influencer marketing in 2018.

Reebook used a similar strategy last year when it teamed up with Sony Pictures Consumer Products and retailer Bait for a limited-edition release of the Reebok Ex-O-Fit Hi Clean shoe that featured designs inspired by the 1984 film "Ghostbusters" drawn by a character from Netflix's '80s-themed series "Stranger Things."

The company isn't alone in embracing a '90s throwback theme for its campaigns. Nike and Foot Locker partnered on "Discover Your Air" in August, a campaign that included two new collections and a YouTube video with NBA star Jayson Tatum, who "unearths" a time capsule full of '90s-era items and a new pair of Nike Air Origins.