Well-known footwear brand Foot Locker stepped into the world of experiential marketing earlier this month with the launch of their new ‘Triple Black’ collection of trainers. The collection consists of six different Nike and Adidas shoe designs – all of which are completely black – the black on black became both the title and the inspiration behind the campaign.
The retailer wanted to bring an extra level of intrigue and excitement to the launch by creating an immersive, three dimensional event to showcase the new footwear range, whilst offering fans the ultimate brand experience challenge to win a pair of the limited edition trainers.
Foot Locker employed the services of design-led motion studio ‘Found’ to create the live event, dubbed the ‘Triple Black Challenge’, which pitched Foot Locker fans against the clock in a frenzied hunt for the Triple Black Collection trainers.
The event was designed to play off the fear and anxiety inspired by darkness, to lift the participant up into the courageous brave person they could be when presented with the challenge.
Conceived and produced in just nine days, Found built a 13x8m set in a warehouse in Hackney, which housed a maze of different rooms which were designed to disorientate challengers. Only one of the rooms had a pair of trainers hidden inside.
Those who were brave enough to take part, were led into a dimly-lit central chamber and asked if they were afraid of the dark, before being plunged into complete darkness. They were then left to navigate the rooms and search for the hidden trainers, with nothing but a voice to guide them through the game. Once the trainers were located, fans had just 10 seconds to escape to safety, but inevitably, the rooms were littered with obstacles and booby traps, to make their search that much harder.
There was a ‘bees room’ with confusing sound effects, a balloon chamber, a room where a mixture of real and fake limbs protruded from the wall and a corridor filled with polystyrene balls, wind machines and strobe lights.
The video that’s resulted from their immersive maze has amassed over 1 million views and there has been an unprecedented level of interest in the new range.
With the Triple Black Challenge, Found created a totally immersive, sensory and emotionally-charged experience that had a strong impact on customers’ level of engagement and perception of the brand – and they must have done something right, as the #BacktoBlack campaign was one of those rare occasions where the client asked for a “viral campaign,” and the artist was able to deliver.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
