As a Convention and Visitors Bureau, VisitLEX’s primary business objective is to boost awareness and enhance perceptions of Lexington, Kentucky, as a travel destination.

Our challenge: differentiate ourselves from rival cities and get new audiences talking about the Horse Capital of the World.  

Our solution: Sneakers for horses.

Duh.

Horse Kicks started as a stunt. But after partnering with local sneaker artist Marcus Floyd, it quickly became a very real brand with a very real product—and eventually, very real demand, pioneering a whole new sneaker category.

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.

The case study video explains the ensuing hype better than words ever could. So watch it.