Client ASICS joins celebration at Amsterdam Worldwide

Amsterdam Worldwide puts ASICS on the minds of buyers

Blogging was the main tool for the ASICS “What’s a left, without a right?” campaign from Amsterdam Worldwide, but Twitter, Digg  and Facebook also became part of the effort to reach the target audience of  twenty-somethings in-tune with cultural movements, fashion, technology and the products they buy.

ASICS stands for “Anima Sana in Corpore Sano,” a Latin phrase expressing the  ideal of a sound mind in a sound body. But, despite its sports heritage and retro cool, ASICS SportStyle was relatively unknown compared to monolithic sports brands, the agency noted.

The agency handpicked influential street-style bloggers to get the word out about ASICS and enticed the bloggers with an object designed to create buzz.

The agency enlisted Freedom of Creation to create 10 iconic objects from the 1980’s, including a DeLorean and Rubik’s Cube. The items were separated into left and right halves, randomly paired and cast into a breakable cage with a personalized message and sent to the bloggers.

To complete their mismatched piece, bloggers had to search for the other half by enlisting the help of their readers, followers, friends and peers. This set off a treasure hunt that spanned 38 countries, 29 languages and hundreds of thousands of potential customers for ASICS SportStyle shoes.

The campaign far exceeded ASICS’ goals.  Pre-season orders rose by 18 percent, which was 13 percent higher than targeted, said Andrew Watson, creative director.

Beyond blog coverage, Twitter and Facebook engaged more than 200,000 people. One blogger, Philip Gaedicke of highsnobiety.com, persuaded the others to exchange their pieces for limited edition SportStyle sneakers. He then reunited each Left and Right at Bread & Butter, Europe’s biggest fashion-fair attended by 90,000 people, generating free exposure worth millions.

In addition to Watson, the Amsterdam team included Richard Gorodecky, executive creative director, Rickard Engstrom, art director; Dan Göransson, copywriter; Ben Jaffé, planner; Liana Pekelharing, account executive; Nicolette Lazarus, business development director,  and  Samantha Koch, senior producer.

“From a campaign costing just 8,000 Euros, this self-generating coverage and long-term advocacy is priceless,” Watson said.

The target audience continued the conversation, promoting ASICS daily across the world’s coolest blogs.  “The most creative campaign we’ve ever seen,” said Simone of www.FrizziFrizzi.it, one of the participating bloggers.