ULTRA EXCLUSIVE. ULTIMATE NEW YORK.
adidas Originals​ | Brand Activation - Influencer Marketing

A new sneaker drop inspired by NYC. 
Not interesting enough? Try and cop it, if you can.
Released for the hustlers that never sleep, this NYC colourway of the Rivalry Lo silhouette is the sneaker and the store. Only 5 chosen advocates have the right to sell it. How they sell it? We don't care. 

No lineups or bots. 
Whoever wants to buy a pair of 'The 5' colourway needs to meet one of the 5 advocates in person. Orders can only be placed by tapping the NFC chip embedded in the tongue of an advocate's shoe with a smartphone. A new category of drops is upon us: The Ultimate Exclusive.

I bet you're wondering who 'The 5' advocates for this ultimate exclusive drop were.
The names (actually Instagram handles) are: ​@ogchantal, @justjuice, @kwasikessie, @hsoji and @ogyayaa.

These brilliant minds showed us what it's like to hustle in the concrete jungle. They created their own visuals and showed us their creativity while telling stories from the city, for the city.

True New Yorkers know how to hustle. Some of the advocates went door-to-door and got people to tap the shoe then cop it - putting in a lot of hard work. Others were strategic and partnered up with die-hard Knicks fans who worked with them to sell the sneaker at a Knicks game. We saw a mix of social and retail strategies that were more real, raw and interesting than anything the corporate world will ever be able to do.

This ultra exclusive drop created so much hype, it made headlines on the famous streetwear online magazine: HIGHSNOBIETY. See what they wrote about it here.

"The colorway of this latest Rivalry Lo ‘The 5’ is a nod to New York’s iconic boroughs; Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island."
- ​Chris Danforth, Features Editor at HIGHSNOBIETY

The result? We established a sneaker as a store and connected with people in a way we never have before. We saw more than 20 creative ways we can speak to sneakerheads and saw them engaging with the stories of 'The 5' advocates on Instagram. The most impressive part was the staggering conversion rate of 56%.

The first step to creating a new business model has been taken. One where people are in charge and brands are enablers - giving space and tools that empower people to create something new and activating the platform of the adidas brand.