New Balance 999

New Balance's 99X Series has successfully established itself as iconic footwear for sports enthusiasts, from the 1980s to today's contemporary style-conscious runners alike. To celebrate the 99X series, New Balance worked with leading sneaker retailers Leftfoot (Singapore) and mita sneakers (Japan) to reinvent this iconic New Balance model. Dudded New Balance 999 Feral Creation, the collection which drew its inspiration from the feral of Asian concrete jungles, featured four animals - Crow, Peacock, Mouse and Lion.

New Balance asked us to come up with a regional media and influencer event for the collection launch. In addition to attracting key urban trendsetters and industry media, the nightlong event needed to create awareness and demand for the collection. We knew that tastemakers, trendsetters and thought-leaders in the creative fields of fashion, arts, design and culture were integral to the success of the collection launch since they are not only the target audience but also the ones who process the marketing communication, translate the message to others and influence purchasing behaviour. So, building on the creative collaboration forged between Leftfoot and mita sneakers in the design and development of the collection, we decided to invite culture influencers in the region codevelop artistic/creative expressions on a broad platform for the launch and/or collection, allowing New Balance to use art and design to embed its message to connect with them and leading to online promotion through word-of-mouth. Invited individuals and collectives were given the carte bleach to create visuals, artistic sculptures, art installations and music with the collection as the central theme.

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Several days ahead of its global release, media from all over Asia flew flocked to a trendy rooftop club in Singapore where the party raged. During the unveiling of the New Balance 999 Feral Creation, guests were presented with two commissioned videos. The launch video depicts the connection between the sneakers' designs and the actual animals while the New Balance 99X Series History video chronicles the 99X series.

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The party hit the floor as Singapore's Indie rock darlings Great Spy Experiment put together a formidable performance rapturously laced with generous helpings of tantalising guitar, riffs, hooks and powerful melodies. Taiwan's DJ Mykal made his debut Singapore performance alongside Malaysia's dynamic duo, Lapsap aka DJ Blink and DJ Xu.

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The mix of creative disciplines and sheer vibrancy at the event drew much media attention, generating numerous impressions and extensive coverage. The resulting owned media gave us great content to leverage across various marketing channels and were used extensively - for social media, digital, retail installations and offshoot regional events. In addition, the two videos we produced spawned an immediate demand to be spread online. And, the number of guests with a morning hangover - countless.