So we asked: What could only happen in The Horse Capital of the World?
The answer? Sneakers for horses. Obviously.
Three BILLION earned media impressions later, and Horse Kicks has become the biggest success for one of the the tourism industry’s most talked-about brands.
Horse Kicks started as a stunt to promote Lexington. But after connecting with local sneaker artist Marcus Floyd, making prototypes and securing some prime downtown storefront real-estate, it quickly morphed into a very real brand with a very real product–and eventually, very real demand, pioneering a whole new sneaker category.
Equipped with scroll-stopping photo assets, a fun website, and one impossible-to-ignore pop-up activation in the heart of downtown, we launched Horse Kicks into 274 earned media placements, including Jimmy Fallon, USA Today, Washington Post, People, BBC, CNN, NPR and The Drew Barrymore Show.
And the world reacted. Instagram accounts with millions of followers shared our creation far and wide. TikTokers made TikToks. The Indianapolis Colts tweeted about it. 50 Cent was baffled by it.
Marcus became famous overnight. Custom orders and partnership offers from NFL teams, NBA superstars and major brands flooded in.
Lexington gained international relevance among a whole new audience of sneakerheads and horse lovers, joining together equine and sneaker cultures in the most unexpected of ways.
In total, Horse Kicks amounted to an estimated $103 million advertising dollars for VisitLEX in earned impressions, shifting perceptions of Lexington, building equity in its claim as The Horse Capital of the World and elevating a local artist on a global stage.
