Japanese shoemaker ASICS had partnered with sneaker retailer Foot Locker to release a martial arts–inspired apparel collection called the Dojo Pack. In an industry dominated by large shoe companies like Nike and Adidas, ASICS wanted to promote the Dojo Pack in a unique and ownable way that would distinguish them from their competitors.

We created “The Sun and the Snake,” a five-part, shoppable, anime series on Instagram starring Luka Sabbat, Princess Nokia and YFN Lucci. Instagram is where sneakerheads spend most of their time, so by releasing it on Instagram, we had a better chance of reaching the intended audience.

Anime has never been more popular in sneaker culture, and everyone from athletes to rappers has expressed their love for it. So to launch the Dojo Pack, an anime series made perfect sense because of anime’s popularity in sneaker culture, ASICS’s Japanese heritage and Foot Locker’s reputation with sneakerheads.

The creative idea was to hype the ASICS Dojo Pack in order to boost sales for both Foot Locker and ASICS. In addition, both companies wanted to elevate their presence in sneaker culture and among sneakerheads. The target audience was anime fans and sneakerheads.

We created “The Sun and the Snake,” a five-part anime series about a samurai on a quest to reclaim his stolen sneakers starring Luka Sabbat, Princess Nokia and YFN Lucci.

The script we created used elements from traditional anime, Japanese culture, sneaker culture, hip-hop and fashion. The story followed a young samurai on a quest to reclaim his stolen sneakers. To voice the anime characters, we partnered with three of the most popular rising stars in sneaker culture: fashion wunderkind Luka Sabbat, rapper YFN Lucci and hip-hop star Princess Nokia.

The ASICS Dojo Pack was a martial arts–inspired apparel collection slated to be released by Foot Locker. Foot Locker had been eager to tap into the more sneaker-centric world of retailers like Kith and websites like Hypebeast, and ASICS had struggled to keep up with more dominant sneaker brands like Nike and Adidas. So we had to find a way to leverage the cultural equities of Foot Locker and ASICS in a way that gave equal exposure to both brands, appealed to sneakerheads and gave them more credibility in sneaker culture.

We created an anime series that drew elements from traditional anime, Japanese culture, sneaker culture, hip-hop and fashion. To voice the characters, we partnered with three of the most popular rising stars in sneaker culture: Luka Sabbat, YFN Lucci and Princess Nokia. Then we released the series where sneaker and anime fans spend most of their time, Instagram.

We conceived and wrote an original script that drew elements from traditional anime, Japanese culture, sneaker culture, hip-hop and fashion. The story followed a samurai on a quest to reclaim his stolen sneakers. To voice the anime characters, we partnered with three of the most popular rising stars in sneaker culture: fashion wunderkind Luka Sabbat, rapper YFN Lucci and hip-hop star Princess Nokia. We designed characters that embodied the personalities of Luka, Nokia and Lucci and created lookbooks for each influencer that teased the release of both the series and the product. We also teased the series by sending custom-made shoeboxes to sneaker influencers that animated when opened.

The episodes were released over a week on Instagram, and each episode was also shoppable, as it featured items from the Dojo Pack that were seamlessly integrated into the story.

“The Sun and the Snake” was well received by both sneaker fans and and anime fans alike. Moreover, the series led to a boost in sales and awareness for both Foot Locker and ASICS that resulted in 273,6M PR impressions, 15.9M social impressions and 3.1M Instagram Story impressions. This shows that if a brand knows its strengths and its audience, they can create content that not only distinguishes themselves from their competitors, but elevates the brand as a whole.