The Campaign

From the lab to the streets, to the courts, to the clubs, to the people who made it their own. Nike made sneaker history. But in China, kids rocked the shoe, but didn't know the history behind them. How do we create a campaign that will educate China's sneaker fans about Nike's past, present, and future innovations and communicate its impact on culture around the world. Nike dropped knowledge with Sneaker Slam, the sneaker festival of the decade in Asia that defined Nike’s legacy through an online to offline genealogy exhibition, launched to empower kids to embrace Nike's legacy and create their own.

Creative Execution

Our strategy was to create an online to offline event that celebrated the intersection of sport and culture, reaching China’s rising generation on platforms and media relevant to them - a history lesson told through WeChat and Gamification. Instead of creating a dry history lesson, Nike schooled kids in its legacy through an interactive SneakerVerse, brought to life through a 3D WebGL mobisite. It launched on WeChat, China’s biggest social app, shared knowledge, then tested them on it. The site immersed kids in Nike’s storied past, innovative present and visionary future, communicating it’s impact on culture worldwide. The top scorers were brought to “Sneaker Slam Shanghai” – a festival that brought ballers and street icons together. The schooling continued on-ground, bringing street ballers, beat makers, graffiti artists, and sneaker fans together to celebrate Nike’s most iconic shoes – as voted by China’s sneaker elite. Each shoe’s story was projection-mapped on the godfather of it all, the Air Force One. Fans customised the AF1 by triggering their own beats and changing its colorway. The festival transformed kids from fans to fanatics. For kids in China, Sneaker Slam made the summer of 2015 unforgettable. It immersed them in Nike’s legacy, and invited them to be a part of history in the making. The mobile site raised the bar on engagement, averaging 4min on time spent per user, doubling the industry standard. At launch, 4,500 fans spent over 30 minutes exploring the site – a record in Nike China’s history. On social, Sneaker Slam expanded the Chinese sneaker movement. The hashtag #????# picked up 34 million impressions, increasing engagement by 112% compared to previous year. 34MM - media impressions 45K - fans spent +30m on campaign site, highest in Nike China’s history 4min - average time spent per user, doubling the industry standard