Dive Brief:
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Foot Locker on Wednesday introduced its "12 Days of Greatness" basketball-inspired holiday campaign. The company teamed up with streetwear designers including Waraire Boswell, Don C, Melody Ehsani, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Sami Miro, PJ Tucker and Rhuigi Villaseñor, to create capsule collections, according to a company announcement.
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The release of capsule collections started Nov. 20 and will continue through Dec. 26. Besides its exclusive assortment of apparel and accessories, Foot Locker will also be featuring shoe releases from Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok and other shoe brands, according to the company press release.
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To kick off the campaign, the brand also enlisted Director X to create the "The Worst Kept Secret" ad, poking fun at keeping the collections under wraps, the company noted.
Dive Insight:
The athletics retailer wanted to recalibrate its holiday shopping experience to celebrate and speak to basketball and the surrounding sneaker culture, Richard McLeod, vice president of marketing for Foot Locker North America, said in a statement. The campaign is the company's most recent effort to reach sneakerheads. Back in September, the retailer made a digital hub for Nike Air Max aficionados using Google Slides to highlight sneaker culture and entertainment.
Foot Locker is among other retailers, including Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy and Dick's Sporting Goods, that are extending their holiday campaigns beyond Black Friday. Given the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption of in-store shopping, retailers need to find new ways to generate excitement ahead of the traditional holiday season.
In addition to uniting multiple streetwear designers and activewear brands, Foot Locker also brought together its sister brands earlier this year. In January, the retailer integrated its loyalty program, dubbed FLX, across all of its brands, including Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Footaction, Champs Sports and Eastbay.
The campaign follows internal changes to its organizational structure over the summer in an effort to "foster greater agility and speed-to-act." In July, the company promoted several executives into new roles while two company veterans stepped down.