NO WALLS. NO STORES. NO DISPLAYS. ONLY TEXTS.

Between cycling and rave cultures, there existed one common ground: the culture of the illicit dealers of NYC. Inspired by the collision of these worlds, we turned the streets of NYC into the most innovative store in the world.

Posters, displaying product and a phone number with a prompt to text, went up around the city.

Answering it, a Chatbot we developed to have the mannerisms of the sketchiest dealer, took consumers’ orders (with no small amount of suspicion).

On launch day, bike messengers outfitted in the collection, flooded the city, delivering product directly to our consumers’ doors. A mobile lookbook that actually delivered.

Photography by Juergen Teller spread across the Internet, further expanding on the lifestyle of this culture.

The activation dominated the streets of New York on July 29 and 31 (completing after two days).

While the Chatbot existed in the abstract digital world, the two virtual and physical realities were blurred when wildpostings and OOH takeovers took to the corners and streetsides both familiar and unfamiliar in 20+ locations.

Social content on adidas Originals Global & NYC Instagram accounts bolstered the activation.

Our intention was to raise awareness for the collection in a radical way, while clearly bringing to life its two disparate inspirations — cycling and rave cultures.

The discovery of what unified these two worlds, the community of New York City dealers, subverted all preconceived notions of what a fashion drop could be — and the fashion world took note.

The drop sparked heat in key publications from Vogue to LA Times, reaching more than 1 billion impressions.

Our audience consisted of sneakerheads and fashionistas keenly aware and engaged with the world of collaborations, recognizing their coveted placement in the streetwear world.

With one of the most tuned-in social audiences of all time, and with ecommerce sales continually rising through mobile, adidas Originals was poised to capitalize on this market like no other streetwear brand.

Our approach was to tap into the most valuable tool in the sneakerheads’ arsenal — the mobile phone — with the most accessible and ubiquitous technology: text. No barrier to entry, no downloads needed, no apps.

SITUATION:

In recent years, the biggest global brands have contended for the most exciting fashion names to collaborate with. Despite the amount of creativity involved in making these products, the collections are always sold the same way: With people forming a long line in front of the same store. No matter how unique the product, brands manufacture hype through an in-store experience that’s filled with contrived hardship.

BRIEF:

WHAT IF WE TRANSFORMED THIS MOMENT OF CONNECTION BETWEEN BRAND AND AUDIENCE INTO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING?

OBJECTIVES:

Launch the new collection on the streets of New York City in a way that would bring its inspirations of cycling and rave culture to life. Generate PR for the launch. Continue the subversive nature of the collaboration, and upend the rules of what a product launch could be.