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Foot Locker dares NBA player to score or perform Twitter-generated challenges

Foot Locker is leveraging a combination of social media contests, celebrity ambassadors and challenges in a unique campaign in which Twitter users share dares for a big name basketball player, showcasing how marketers can stand out amid an onslaught of content on social channels. 

The footwear retailer is accepting tweets from fans of NBA player James Harden that challenge him to various dares, which he will have to complete if he misses a basketball shot attempt. The playful initiative on social media is tapping into consumers? nostalgia for the childhood game of truth or dare and for-fun betting, attempting to stand out amid an overload of marketing on Twitter. 

"The campaign has several elements that contribute to a well played social media campaign," said Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile. "First of all, Footlocker is taking the time to interact with what consumers are saying in social media. 

"It is easy for brands to use social media as a one way conversation street, or worse, as a place to post their pr releases," she said. "Footlocker has come up with a creative way to interact with fan content and leverage social media to actually socialize with their fans. 

"Creating quality content which resonates with consumers is beneficial to brands not only because consumers  are more likely to enjoy it but also because it can lead to further visibility. Established social media sites have algorithms in place that optimize content based on how well consumers respond to it."

#PlayMyTweet

The Houston Rockets player will have to carry out the dares on the respective balls if he misses. For instance, if a fan tweeted ?eat a spoonful of cinnamon? and Mr. Harden misses the basket with the ball in which the message is printed on, he will have to complete that challenge. 

Consumers can enter the contest from now until October 8 and must include the hashtag #PlayMyTweet and tag Foot Locker in the post on Twitter to be considered. A team from Foot Locker will choose what they deem as the most creative tweets, and will not accept anything not family friendly. 

While the attempt offers up the possibilities of consumers hijacking the campaign, the benefits outweigh the risk. Since not all tweets will be printed on the basketballs, the campaign should draw in a much more substantial amount of those interested in keeping it clean and has a good chance of being successful. 
The popularity of Mr. Harden the playfulness of the contest allows the brand to standout, a factor that is so important in regards to social media campaigns as there is an excessive amount of marketers taking to the channels to connect to consumers. 

Viewers can watch Mr. Harden attempting the challenge on YouTube and Twitter at 7pm on October 8. 

Social media importance
Foot Locker also joined in on the latest mobile marketing trend, emoji keyboard applications, in an effort to connect further with fans (see more). 

Similarly, Universal Studio's Pitch Perfect film franchise leveraged the social media application Dubsmash for a contest to promote its latest installment's DVD release through content with which its demographic is excited to interact (see more). 

"Social media sites have a vested interest in ensuring that users like the content that's in front of them," Ms. Lowy said. "Twitter wants to make sure you find the content on Twitter valuable so that you return to the site. 

"Therefore if a post or a hashtag receive a lot of activity, Twitter will assume it is quality content and be more likely to notify people about the post or hashtag," she said. "That can come in the form of a push notification, broader and more prominent newsfeed placement, or it can be added to the trending now section. 

"Each of those can generate a substantial amount of additional visibility for a brand. The hashtag associated with the campaign also has several key ingredients to encourages consumes to use it, it is simple in nature, leaving little room for tweeters to misspell or confuse it. It is also more creative than bland hashtags we've see elsewhere which look like #footlockersweepstakes2015, bland hashtags can come across as too promotional driven which can be off putting."

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer