Retailer Opens Media Division, Lends Marketing Expertise to Select Brands

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 15, 2006 - Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, sneaker shoe and sports apparel retailer Sportie LA has launched SLAM (Sportie LA Media), a division dedicated to spearheading nontraditional marketing projects for select sneaker brands.  Prior to its official launch, the division engaged in a Web campaign designed to boost the presence and extend the profile of PF Flyers.  The hugely successful effort included a PF Flyers Sneaker Boutique, a viral film, and other Web marketing elements.

With four stores in the Los Angeles area, and a clientele that reads like a Who's Who of fashion-conscious celebrities, Sportie LA is considered one of the chief influencers on today's sneaker scene. This week, the company was listed #3 among Independent Retailers on Footwear News' Power 100. 

"Our initial goal in establishing SLAM was to connect brands with a consumer base they might not reach otherwise," said Sportie LA partner Isack Fadlon, who founded the company with sister Orna Amzaleg. "We're not just making products available - we're embracing the message and history of the brands we feature."  What started with the boutiques has now extended to Web marketing and video, Fadlon explained, "and of course this original media is designed to venture outside a brand's usual demographic."

The PF Flyers Sneaker Boutique at Sportie LA offers the world's largest selection of PF brand shoes, including styles available only through Sportie LA, such as the in-demand Center Lo Sandlot Edition. In the few short months since its creation, the PF Flyers Sneaker Boutique has topped search engines and established itself as a powerful retail presence across the web. The site is uniquely designed to capture the PF Flyers culture and ensure ease of execution for shoppers.

For the campaign's viral component, SLAM created a two-minute video purporting to be a "lost casting tape" from Martin Scorsese's 1990 mob classic Goodfellas.  Showcased on the web as Goodfellas Cast (below), it features an actor auditioning for the Joe Pesci role, delivering the same lines as they might be performed by famous actors of the day, including Al Pacino, Dudley Moore, Sean Connery, and Pesci himself.  "The idea was never to convince people that the tape was real," said Justo Diaz of Diangy Systems, the Web marketing firm partnered with SLAM.  "Goodfellas was perfectly suited to the target demographic, and the concept of this nutty guy auditioning as all these actors distracts you from the sell."  Namely, the fact that the actor is wearing different PF Flyers as each character - and those styles are showcased on the Boutique. 

While other projects are under way, including a number of live events, Fadlon declined to name the brands at press time.