Applied Technology

Nike6.0 Campaign

Product & Campaign

• Target Market: Young people (13 -25). Anyone with an interest in extreme/action sports.

• Campaign Strategy: To promote this part of Nike as a separate part of the company that has a passion and expertise in extreme sports.

• Nike6.0 is a branch of the Nike company that focus on action sports. In particular snowboarding, skateboarding, BMX, surfing and wakeboarding.

• The brand sells a range of clothes such as shoes, hoodies and T-shirts, as well as

accessories like hats, bags and belts.

• All the products are geared towards action sports fashion as well as performance.

• I first came across this campaign through a special made graphic novel style booklet called “Vertigo”. This consisted of a collection of near-futuristic scenarios featuring various types of extreme sports action. The comic booklet was designed to catch people’s interest and drive them to the website - http://www.nike.com/nke6/v4 - and in my opinion was a quite intriguing and effective tool.

• The website itself features the product range, team rider interviews, photos and a few interactive features and downloads. It also includes stencils, screensavers and desktop backgrounds (which is where the backdrop for this presentation is taken from.)

• The Illustration was done by Adam Haynes - Adam Haynes - Illustration – and although not used much in the actual website it does form the basis for the rest of the integrated campaign as we shall see on the next slide.

• But was this enough to drive the campaign forward? This presentation will look at the existing campaign and suggest how different or new technology could have improved it. I Also want to look at one or two similar campaigns and see how they used innovative design or technology to increase awareness of their brand or product.

Video Ads in the campaign.

• Nike 6.0

• Nike 6.0 Vertigo Skate

• Nike 6.0 Vertigo Snowboard

• Nike 6.0 Vertigo Surf

INTEGRATION

• Sponsoring young riders:

Nike6.0 sponsors a team of snowboarders, skateboarders, BMXers and wakeboarders.

• They put out a series of videos featuring these riders called Ricochet –

• YouTube - Ricochet Nike 6.0 Team Video

• Supporting events and competitions:

• 2007 Nike 6.0 Pier Pressure

• Nike 6.0 brings All-American Rejects in for Jack's Party

• Ambient media featuring Adam Haynes’ illustrations that can be seen on the next page

Ambient media featuring Adam Haynes’ illustrations

Poster

Seagle team vehicle

Van

In store promotion

Mobile SMS• Mobile adverting through SMS and Java would lend itself well to this campaign as the

content is attention grabbing and can easily be delivered in short action packed bursts. The target market is savvy to new forms of media and would react well to things such as action sports being delivered to their mobiles.

• This is backed up by the existence of companies such as Yamgo who offer extreme sports mobile content which can be tailored to suit any campaign. Of course Nike already has content in the form of it’s Vertigo ads and Adam Haynes’ illustrations so it would be easy to get the message out to the target market directly.

In game advertising• The use of advertising in computer games has been around for a few years now as

this Guardian Online article from 2004 shows.

• In this ClickZ article the figures tell us that in game advertising is already a massive industry which is still growing.

• Billboards in action sports games such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater would fit the

product perfectly and access the target market without being too intrusive.

Interactive gaming and walls• The possibility of the use of in game advertising leads nicely onto the idea of creating a game (or

games) around the brand itself.. The success games such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Matt Hoffman’s Pro BMX show the potential of such a move. A simple online game based around the company’s promotion of action sports would have instantly made the site and the brand more accessible to young people. The impact of advertising through online games is professed by providers of such a service such as Advergame, who supply advertising orientated online gaming that can even be Custom made for a specific client

• However, the in store promotions mentioned earlier led me think about adding an interactive element to this aspect. New technologies mean that instead of just painting the illustrations on walls or stairs, the images could be projected onto the a shops surfaces. These scenes could then not only be animated but infrared cameras could also sense the movement of members of the public in front of the projections. Through visual interactive software the images can then be programmed to react to the users’ movements.

• In doing this Nike could include their promotional illustration style into an life sized interactive game that would draw customers into the store.

• VIP, a British company, is a perfect example of this sort of technology.

3D imaging and reality gaming• Having seen this film about 3D imaging I also wonder then if this sort of technology

could someday be taken further. In store promotions would be impressive enough if you could see the company’s logo or product spinning unsupported in the air. If this 3D technique could then be developed and combined with the visual interactive software we have just seen then some incredible interactive advertising and promotion could be created. If Kate Moss can get in on the 3D act then I’m sure Nike could get involved too!!

• This blurring between gaming and reality is becoming more and more apparent. Now not only can people play games that react to their physical motions, but real places and objects have become a part of the game, as seen in Nintendo DS’ latest project that gets underway this month: A treasure hunt that takes place on the handheld console as well as an island littered with hidden items and clues.

• This may be beyond a simple fashion campaign now but the possibility of a totally integrated “world” that incorporated physically interactive 3D game imaging and real life extreme sports action could be astounding. It would immerse people so much into a brand that they would feel they were a part of it themselves.

Customisation• The campaigns style could also have been used more to encourage people to

customise their PCs and Macs.

• As mentioned earlier this has been done in part by offering downloads for screensavers and backgrounds but programs such as Greasemonkey offer users the opportunity to make their desktops look how they want. A Nike 6.0 skin would give the people who downloaded it a permanent reminder of the brand.

• Widgets such as the ones listed here keep users updated on Extreme Sports news and updates. Such a tool could have easily been created to give information on the latest videos, photos & competitions of the Nike 6.0 team as well as showing any new or limited edition products in the clothing line.

Nike Dunk Campaign• I feel it is worth mentioning the Nike Dunk campaign as it also features a strong

illustrative theme.

• In this case it is Manga that is the chosen format and the website features a Mangazine that depicts young Japanese characters playing basketball, skateboarding, break dancing and generally wearing Nike Dunk shoes.

• This sort of online comic is what I expected from the Nike 6.0 website having seen the Vertigo illustrated booklet. This continuation of the press material would have really benefited the website and could have led on to some interesting interactive feature. Even a simple interactive element to the online graphic novel as in Argon Zark would have made the idea much more accessible and appealing.

• This could then be incorporated into the SMS and Java communication ideas mentioned earlier as the comic could be turned into a weekly updated series sent directly to your mobile similar to what is being done by ROK comics and it could also have been produced as podcast.

Made of Japan• Finally I would like to reference the recent Onisuka Tiger “Made of Japan” campaign

which took used innovative technology and intricate design work to promote their range of shoes. The campaign featured:

• Made of Japan ad – Futuristic style TV ad.• Electric Light Shoe – A giant Tiger shoe featuring intricate structures and lights• Card Tower Display & Shoe Display – Point of sale structures for shops.• Key Holder Shoe – Mini tiger shoes on a keychains.• USB Shoe – USB memory sticks in the style of Tiger shoes.

• All of these techniques would have been applicable to the Nike 6.0 as the product features a complete shoe range. Beautifully designed extras such as these can really influence the success of the campaign, especially the keychains and USB sticks which actually have an use of their own and so will be valued by buyers or prospective buyers of the range.

Conclusion• The Nike 6.0 campaign was good integrated campaign as it did utilise different media

that was visually appealing and intriguing enough to drive people to the website.

• However, as we have seen there was much more that could have been done outside of the existing campaign, from utilising popular technology such as SMS and widgets to capitalising on emerging technology to create interactive games and virtual experiences.

• The product could also have been incorporated into other artistic mediums or collectibles as we saw in the Onitsuka Tiger campaign.

• Also, the website itself could have used the illustrative style they had created to enhance the visual ideas and make an ongoing interactive story to further involve the consumer in the world of extreme sports and so the Nike 6.0 brand.