Over 1 year after pulling out of the Beijing Olympics, Liu Xiang made his comeback to the world of track and field. With hours of rehabilitation under his belt, he returns Confident but tentative. In his own words, “I’m just trying to get back to where I was.” These words were the insight we used to create the comeback campaign called “chase”. It takes one of the nations tops athletes, who has been rife with controversy, and humanizes him – connecting him with the everyday challenges and triumphs of a billion people. For his first race back, we create a teaser print ad that ran in multiple newspapers the day of the race as a subtle hint of his frame of mind. For his next race, the China National games, we created a documentary that follows his journey of rehabilitation through his first race and aired that on TV and digital. In addition, we created print, digital and ooh executions that captured his spirit going forward. Nobody knows what will happen next but celebrating this milestone was a true Nike moment.

Agency Partner:
WK Shanghai, lead creative

One year after the Beijing Olympics, the Nike Brand did not slow down at all going into the Summer of 2009! As the coolest and most favorite brand among all youth in China, Nike heated things up with athlete tours from the world greatest (kobe, lebron, Man U, Inter) and generated more momentum for the China running movement with Human Race events in 6 cities for over 50k runners. It was a tiring and action packed couple of months that saw the Brand inspire and elevate sport for millions of youth in China.

Building off the momentum of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nike set a goal to create the world’s largest race with hundreds of thousands of runners taking to the streets on August 31, 2008. Japan was no exception and we extended the campaign attacking the streets of Tokyo and getting young people all over to take up running. The campaign leverage print, ooh, retail and aggressive digital to build awareness and drive registration. We brought 9,000 runners to Mt. Fuji for a 10k run around Lake Motosko and a finale concert with headlining Japanese acts. It was amazing site to see some of Japanese best track athletes fire the starting gun for thousands of excited runners. Who would have thought running could be so fun – Nike, of course!

Agency Partner:
WK Tokyo, lead creative

As a part of the Nike Brand Talent Acceleration program, I was asked to give a talk on Creativity in Japan.? As you can imagine, it’s was an extremely difficult and complex topic that I am not even that versed in… but i gave it my best, pulling thoughts, insights and examples from the far reaches of Nippon Culture and my own experiences.? From the outside, Tokyo is such an amazing place – from the inside, the stories become even more richer and fulfilling. For Japan, the devil really is in the details and the history is just as interesting as the future.

Presentation [google docs]

]]> http://marvin.nospoon.com/2010/01/tokyo-creative-discussion/feed/ 0 http://marvin.nospoon.com/2010/01/nike-sportswear/ http://marvin.nospoon.com/2010/01/nike-sportswear/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:33:44 +0000 marvin http://marvin.nospoon.com/?p=155

In the summer of 2008, Nike globally launched it’s official, unofficial “lifestyle” brand Nike Sportswear.  As one of the world’s leading street style cities in the world, we had a tremendous challenge but subsequently had one of the most successful and integrated launches in the world.  At it’s core was the establishment of NSW, Nike Sportswear pinnacle collection sold only in a handful of stores throughout Japan and the opening of the NSW Store in the famed Harajuku.  The launch of the Nike Sportswear started with pinnacle influencer collaborations with some of tokyo’s most well known street culture elite and cascaded down to core and everyday retail, pr publications and communication.  The launch, which was a combination of sport meets street, saw wild postings throughout the hotspots of tokyo, a massive PR push, music and entertainer collaborations, an interactive digital execution focused on product and the opening and consistent programming of the NSW door.

To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the world’s most iconic sneaker, the Air Force 1, we partnered with Japan’s top Hip Hop NITRO MICROPHONE UNDERGROUND band to collaborate on an AF1 music tour which included a music track, special cd release, music video, exclusive nike product and a nationwide summer tour. The groups passion and respect for the AF1 was a perfect match for celebrating the past and future of this street culture icon. The “Special Force” soundtrack helped anchor the overall campaign and become the anthem for sneakerheads all summer long.

Agency Partner:
WK Tokyo, music video creative/production

Nike is the biggest running brand in Japan but if you ask “real” runners, Asics is the best running brand.  That has been the challenge for Nike in Japan for year and in 2007 we decided to change that.  We lauched the Run Revolution campaign which was a platform to begin talking about Running differently – both internally and externally.  It was a rallying cry to challenge conventional thinking but to also do the basics that were needed to win.  The campaign launched around the idea of “the days of running along are over” and focused on NIKE+ the iPod running partner that combines music, time/distance and an online community to running.  In addition to the core marketing communication tools, we placed an aggressive focus on product communication, digital communities, running events/trial and retail partnerships, clerk training and branding.

Agency Partner:
WK Tokyo, Lead Creative

In any given year, the Japan Marketing team producers a tremendous amount of work that touches consumers in so many different ways.  I have always believed that Nike’s ability to create both mass impact and niche energy amoung select communities was one of it’s biggest Brand strengths – and that is no truer than in Tokyo, the world’s most finicky market.  From major television campaigns, to grassroots sessions, to connecting with street culture 1:1 we use every tool in the marketing mix to achieve our goal.  This video recaps the key Japan marketing campaigns for 2007-2008 as well as some of the amazing on-field achievements and heroics of the athletes we have signed and partnered with.  Their is no way for me to have a major hand in all of this work but it was under my watch as Marketing Director.

Agency Partner:
WK Tokyo, lead creative
Beacon Communications, lead digital

Awards:
2009. Pencil, The One Show Interactive, NIKE iD Kiosk
2007. D&AD Winner Best Mobile Marketing Campaign, Bukatsu

As we strive to be one of the most premium Brands in the world, elevating our product presentation is a key tool along that journey – especially in the style mecca of Tokyo. In August of 2007 created the Nike PR Showroom @ the Tokyo Design Studio in the small creative community of Nakameguro, Tokyo. The goal was to create a destination where media, influencers, stylist and entertainers could come and experience the brand, our products and our stories in a premium, intimate 1:1 setting. We launched the space with an intimate gathering of 500 of our closest friends, family and influencers and have continued to host both large and private events that support the media and creative community of Tokyo.

Agency Partner:
Torafu, architecture and design

Detailed Overview [google docs]

BACKGROUND: The “Sport” that Tokyo and most of Japan have grown up with is the Bukatsu system.  One that is driven by competition, perseverance and winning.  Rooted in the military, this system has a long history and has produced many great athletes and sports moments for Japan.  Though it is not perfect, for those who grow up with a burning passion for sport, it is a system to be embraced.  It’s evolution will come slowly and from within.  But in typical Japanese fashion, there is a dichotomy in sport.  A large faction of people who are not a part of the Bukatsu system and therefore do not relate to their definition of sport.  This group of energized youth are driving a change in sport.  Taking it into their own hands, onto their own fields, and on their terms.  They are re-defining sport in Tokyo and we will be their voice… their advocate for change.

This voice was the creative concept and spark for the Tokyo “Just Do It” City attack.  In a world of street culture youth that explodes on street corners and in subway stations late at night, we wanted people to not only hear our message but FEEL the brand.  Our campaign celebrated the heroes of street sports such as skaters, bikers and dancers.  At the core, we created 120 unique creative units that were tailors to specific parts of the city.  If kids skated here – their was an ad there with their voice.  If kids danced there, same thing.  As our coming out, we created street level buzz with these ads and a massive sticker attack.

Agency Partner:
WK Tokyo, lead concept/creative
Radiobox, grassroots and event production

Creative Case Study:  high-res [dropbox]  low-res [google docs]

But at the same time, we need to make sure that kids knew we weren’t just marketing to them but that we believed in them and what the were doing.  At this underground level, we began funding and sponsoring small street sport events, competitions, art exhibits and festivals in more discreet ways to show our support at all levels.  To culimate this initial effort, we created a massive skate and dance park in the middle of the city for kids to do and see sport in action.  It included two mini-half pipes, a dance area and daily programming with clinics, competition and jams.  It attracted over 500,000 viewers and participants over an unheard of 10 day run in Yayogi park.  This project also sparked another conversation with the Mayor of Shibuya and god willing, the Nike Miyashita park will open sometime in 2010.  Below is more on these grassroots efforts.