One of the most awaited events at ComplexCon, the infamous style and innovation festival, is the ‘sneaker drop’, where major shoe brands create and release one-off exclusives and special collaborations. Traditionally, the sneaker drop has been associated with aggressive fights, long lines for up to three hours, and resellers gaming the system. Adidas Originals asked us to solve these chaotic problems in a memorable way that’s never been done before. We knew that we wanted to bring the brand’s sneakers straight into the hands of actual fans, while emphasizing adidas Originals as a forward-thinking brand and leader in innovation and emerging technology.

We introduced a fully automated, staffless system to sell exclusive shoes - something that’s never been done before. Integrated right into ComplexCon's app, sneakerheads avoid lengthy lines by scanning one of five drop spots at the event, and purchasing the shoes directly from their phones. They then pick up their purchased sneakers at their own leisure from our adidas digital lockers. Seamless. Fast. With no lines, no fights and equal opportunity for everyone.

Every interaction had purpose and was derived from Sneakerhead culture insight. This crowd is used to standing in lines; used to standing their ground; and used to the competitive nature of getting exclusive sneakers. The result, however, has been missing out on the actual event of ComplexCon, and in some cases, getting kicked out. Our strategy was to flip this typical behavior on its head by eliminating lines, securing purchases, and giving everyone an equal chance to get these kicks. Special attention was paid to users and their comfort zone - we didn’t want to add barriers by making them download extraneous apps or presenting them with incomprehensible tech. Additionally, we seeded educational social posts through adidas Originals channels and HypeBeast to make sure ComplexCon-goers knew exactly how to get their hands on Originals drops all weekend long.

46 business days from concept to execution.

3 main problems to solve: security, democracy and wasted time.

13,000 hungry Sneakerhounds in attendance.

1 integrated native app module within ComplexCon app guaranteeing everyone already had it downloaded.

6 drops per day; every hour on the hour.

5 AR-activated “drop spots” acting as digital retail stores.

40 feet away is how far consumers could be from the spot to still unlock the chance to purchase sneakers.

90 second process from unlocking the drop to pick up.

500 fully digital, automated and staffless lockers from which consumers picked up their shoes.

1000 pairs of shoes sold.

0 fights or adidas booths shut down.

12,000% decrease in wait time.

50/50 Sneakerhounds and regulars who walked away with Sneakers and high-fives.

1 mic drop from the CEO of Complex: “this is what complete and utter domination of influence and impact looks like”.

Over the 2 days, 8,800 unique users experienced the AR sneaker drop and we sold out all 1000 pairs of adidas shoes with an average sell out time of 1.5 minutes. That’s 178.5 minutes faster than the average. 90% of transaction conversions for the drops occurred within the first 5 minutes. Whether they won the chance to purchase the shoes or not, sneakerheads were impressed that they didn’t have to wait in lines and that the drops didn’t get shut down from fights. It generated a total of 23 million social media impressions and 99 million editorial impressions across 78 pieces of social coverage and 56 pieces of editorial coverage. The CEO of Complex, Rich Antoniello, also tweeted, “this is what complete and utter domination of impact and influence looks like,” referring to an image of thousands of event-goers scanning the AR drop cube with their phones.

ComplexCon is the Super Bowl for Sneakerhounds. Brands bring big collaborations, sparkly booths and brand new exclusive sneakers to drop. What comes with that is long lines, line cutting, bullying and fighting, sometimes resulting in the shut down of booths and no product being sold at all.

Our goal was to remove all the things that sneakerheads hate most about shoe drops — competition, fighting, and lines. By doing so, we gave them their time back to enjoy the conference, engage with the brand in a new and innovative way and never miss a drop.