The Athlete of the Mic contest is one of The Athlete's Foot's favorite annual events they host as it provides a way for the brand to be integrated into the community with a known presence and a way to bring them closer to their loyal customers. This contest is unique for The Athlete’s Foot because it aligns the brand with someone who aspires to be an artist and provides them with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our main goal with The Athlete of the Mic is to give a platform to talented artists while uniting their community at the same time.
The Athlete of the Mic contest was created to give aspiring artists an opportunity to showcase their talents and perform on the big stage at Hot 107.9’s (Radio One) Birthday Bash in Atlanta, GA. Hip Hop continues to play a pivotal role in the sneaker culture and this contest gives us a way to integrate our brand, the culture and the community. This allows for a unique experience and opportunity to align the brand with someone who aspires to be an artist and give them a platform for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To partake in the community-wide contest, there were two ways to audition, online at TheAthleteoftheMic.com and/or live auditions. The contest grants someone an opportunity to share the same stage as artists such as 2 Chainz, Drake, Nicki Minaj and Ludacris, in front of more than 30,000 fans. We have worked with renowned brands such as Adidas and other strategic brand partnerships for this contest to further engage with the communities. When bringing this project to life, we faced challenges such as reach. We wanted to reach as many aspiring artists as possible so we added the online audition in year two.
Our main goal when creating this contest was to generate buzz around the community and get young individuals' voices heard. The Athlete’s Foot values our community and is always looking to find talent and unite the community in unique ways. This unique take on a community-wide event was successful as we were able to see all the support from our community around the contest, and we were able to market our brand. This contest continued to trend on social pages and made a buzz in the media.
