Sneakers and Interactive Media Culture

This Friday, May 27th:

To celebrate the last day of the NIKEiD billboard in Times Square, Nike is hosting the NIKE FREE for ALL…

From 1pm - 5pm every free shoe created at Times Square will be produced for the consumer/creator for free.

As has been done throughout the execution, consumers dial the number noted on the board and are prompted to create their shoe. Five people can be waiting on hold (before a busy sign is received). Then once the consumer designs their FREE kick, they will receive a text message to their cell phone - the same as what’s been done before BUT this time with a single use comp code where they can place their Nike FREE shoe order.

Could this be the same guys that bought us Kicksfinder.com?
The JordanSource is an eBay visual search utility for all things Michael Jordan.

Check out the site.

Here’s some background on the contest:

NIKE iD approached 20 of the internet’s greatest purveyors of sneaker culture and issued a challenge: design the hottest shoe on the information superhighway. The shoes are now live on the NIKEiD site and users can go to the site and vote for their favorite shoe design.

I’m backing my friends at FRESHNESSMAG.com. Follow this link and show them some love. Voting ends on June 3rd.

Vote now.

From the Unorthodox Styles crew that produces the Crookedtongues.com site comes the book, ‘Sneakers: The Complete Collectors’ Guide.’ It’s an encyclopaedic guide, with more than 500 specially taken color photographs which displays over 180 sneaker designs that have made a mark on sneaker culture worldwide. There are examples to delight both the novice collector and the hard-core sneaker freak, from acknowledged classics like the Converse All Star to the latest Nike Air technology.

Unorthodox Styles is a London-based creative consultancy, specializing in graphic design, Web design, and photography. It is the producer of Crookedtongues.com, the leading online sneaker resource.

Buy the book.

NKE 6.0 is a youth movement and product line that is committed to the progression of action sports. Action sports have evolved in a short period of time. Spawned from personal expression and innovation they challenge our ideas of what is possible.

Check out the site.

[from Adage.com]
New Billboard Promotion Is Activated by Mobile Phones
May 09, 2005
by Kris Oser

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — In its customary way of going for ever bigger and more different promotions, Nike has purchased a build-your-own-shoe media placement on the 23-story-high Reuters sign on the Reuters Building in Times Square. The Nike build-a-shoe sign on the Reuters building in Times Square. Click to see larger photo.

Real-time designing
The promotion, which is part of the sports apparel giant’s NikeID campaign, lets passersby with a cell phone to call a toll-free number to access the technology and use the dial pad to choose aspects of a sneaker they prefer and build it in real time on the sign. After first picking out the colors of the laces, swoosh, uppers and mid-sole of the sport shoe and then customizing it with initials or other personal tags, the consumer is sent an SMS message with a picture of the personalized shoe and the Web address (www.nyc.nikeid.com) where it can be purchased. The technology is available between noon and 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“The more you allow people to stop what they are doing and interact with a brand, the better it’s going to be,” said John Mayo-Smith, vice president of technology at R/GA, the interactive agency that handled the campaign. “But just as important, the people who are watching the sign are getting a brand experience, too.”

Nike would not comment for this story.

[via Curbed]
Finally, a truce in the ongoing struggle between art and commerce. After recent battles went both ways (Yay art! Yay, um, commerce!), the always level-headed Lower East Side weighs-in with a solution: Why not celebrate both? This newish Ludlow St. mural manages to do just that, expressing its bleak view of the urban jungle while also managing to pinpoint the exact location of Eldridge Street sneakerhead Mecca Nort. It’s a beautiful thing when two opposing sides can come together like this, all in the name of Nike.

[from nytimes.com]

By NAT IVES
Published: May 5, 2005

NIKE’S decision to stop selling its sneakers and clothes at Sears is shining a spotlight on the impact retail environments have on marketers’ brands.

Though the companies themselves have said little about the move, retail analysts quickly pronounced it a result of the Kmart Holding Corporation’s $12 billion acquisition of Sears, Roebuck & Company in March.

Nike may have feared that its products would wind up for sale at Kmart, a discount chain, analysts said. If not, Nike may still have worried that Sears Holdings, the company that resulted from the Kmart-Sears combination, would undermine Nike’s image.

When Sears Holdings was formed, its chief executive, Alan J. Lacy, said that the new company would offer a complete shopping solution. “Shoppers will have greater access to the leading proprietary brands of both Kmart and Sears,” Mr. Lacy said. Kmart stores, for example, would be able to sell products once exclusive to Sears, like Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances.

The cross-pollination, however, has yet to significantly improve the image of either chain.

At the same time, Nike has continued to pursue high-gloss ad campaigns. It is spending an estimated $20 million to $30 million, for example, on its warriors campaign that shows professional athletes donning masks.

In sum, Nike spent an estimated $220 million last year to advertise in major United States media, according to TNS Media Intelligence. It is also the runaway sales leader in its chief category. With about $3.2 billion in wholesale footwear sales last year, Nike represented 36.3 percent of the nation’s $8.9 billion branded athletic shoe market, according to Sporting Goods Intelligence. Its next closest competitor, Reebok, had 12.2 percent of that market.

Read more.

Converse just recently launched their ‘Design your own’ service. Go check out the site to personalize a pair of Chuck Taylors.

Check out the site.

Check out the Air Force 1 thread on Niketalk.com

[from nypost.com]
For six years, Nike’s iD division has let sneaker enthusiasts design their own shoes online with a few mouse clicks. Now the athletic apparel giant is taking the customization craze a step further through new technology and savvy marketing. Using their cellphones, Nike fans will be able to customize a pair of shoes displayed on a 22-story digital screen in the heart of Times Square. After their 60-second session, they can either download their design as mobile phone wallpaper or go online and buy the product.

The interactive experience — a blend of mobile marketing, online shopping and video gaming — underscores the challenge for Nike to innovate on both the design and technology fronts. “We’ve integrated different components of this from time to time but this is the first time we’ve brought it all together,” said John Mayo-Smith, vice president of technology for R/GA, Nike’s interactive ad agency.

Beyond that, Nike sees this as a way to experiment with new kinds of marketing. While it expects a lot of people will try their hand at designing, it hopes to capture the attention of millions. Nike is relaunching the iD program with a redesigned Web site and a marketing campaign that also involves TV spots, online ads and “wild postings” outdoors.

Read more.

More press from ClickZ.

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