Foot Locker runs sneaker art competition at ‘dire time for retail industry’
Sports shoe retailer Foot Locker has defended its decision to hold an off-beat sneaker art competition at a troubled time for Australia’s retail industry.
“What better time than now to engage with our customers,” Foot Locker’s marketing director Jessica Spee told Mumbrella.
The Foot Locker Art Prize saw artists enter a competition to create a sneaker-themed art piece culminating in an event held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
http://youtu.be/yP0DXUEDyyo
SapientNitro Brisbane, WeAreDigital Melbourne and DEC Communications Sydney were the key agencies involved. Foot Locker also partnered with deviantART, an online community of artists and art enthusiasts, represented by the sales house Populace.
The first prize of $50,001 went to Kalin Thompson, a 24-year old from Brisbane, for this effort:
Great idea! Why on earth would anyone have to “defend” a decision to run an exhibition at an art gallery? I’m guessing the artists contributed their work for free and Foot Locker merely stumped up the (very generous) prize money… clever, original, bang on the target audience and fantastic value for money. To be applauded for mine. Or do we just want more moaning from old dinosaur retailers like David Jones!!!
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Big ticks all round.
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Awesome stuff. Winning entry deserved it.
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Great, loved it what a good idea, I know if I went to see this in person I would “need” to go and buy more trainers…. No really I need some new trainers it’s been at least 3 weeks since I bought some
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Congratulations Foot Locker on a clever and creative activation! It’s sure to win you a few awards too.
I imagine you already have next year’s re-launch in the works and maybe even a book deal showcasing the amazing artworks – endless possibilities and opportunities! Well done.
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Great idea. Congratulations to all involved.
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A very great activation and one that supports artists – double win. After following the progress of the competition my only criticism was that the majority of artworks that were chosen as finalists were crap. That said, the winning entry was excellent.
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Sales aren’t the be all and end all of every campaign, the equity in the brand this will create everyone that saw this will live a lot longer than a discount pair of kicks! Well done to all involved. More brands should do cool shit like this.
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Ohhh … I thought she was saying ‘snicker-art’.
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I don’t understand what’s so controversial about holding an art contest that culminates in a museum? Sounds like a fun campaign and great idea, Foot Locker (and SapientNitro).
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I would definitely deem this as a hugely successful campaign for Foot Locker, having seen this so well received by our audience, not only by the sneaker community (Sneaker Freaker) but by the design/art community also, here is a follow up editorial piece on deviantART to that nature with great feedback comments from site members:
http://hq.deviantart.com/blog/42945039/
It’s great to see a bricks & mortar retailer cleverly use online to their advantage rather than fear it as a risk to their business.
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