The Foot Locker campaign is part of the brand’s ‘Approved’ marketing platform and features two spots starring NBA Draft, Ben Simmons.
Foot Locker has rolled out two 30-second commercials across YouTube starring top Draft prospect, Ben Simmons. Part of the brand’s ‘Approved’ marketing platform, the spots were created by BBDO and capture the athlete seeking advice for his upcoming rookie season.
Slated to air across the United States, the campaign will feature on ESPN during the live broadcast of the NBA Draft 2016 presented by State Farm. In the first video, It’s Not Real Yet, Simmons produces his own homemade ad alongside a life-sized papier-mâché version of NBA sensation, Karl Anthony Towns.
Set prior to the draft, the creative depicts the basketball player role-playing how he hopes the star will respond to his invitation for guidance. The spot closes with an awkward handshake between Simmons and the fake Towns, styled in head-to-toe Nike gear from the speciality athletic retailer.
Meanwhile, in It’s Real Now, the campaign’s second commercial, the celebrated NBA talents of Towns, Devin Booker, and D’Angelo Russell are shown offering tips on life after the Draft. Russell pokes fun at his own rookie mistakes, discarding of Simmons’ cell phone, saying “Trust me.”
“We’re thrilled to celebrate another NBA Draft with an elite player like Ben Simmons. Featuring four awesome young talents in our Draft campaign speaks volumes to the brand during this marquee sports moment,” said Stacy Cunningham, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Foot Locker.
Simmons will also appear alongside other prospects in Kids Foot Locker’s second-annual Media Training being released digitally later this week. The draftees will be put in the hot seat as kids ask hard-hitting questions to help prepare them to face the media as they embark on their careers.
A marque with a global presence, Foot Locker operates approximately 3,400 stores in 23 countries across the international markets of North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
