12.08.2010 | New Work
Today Nike and Foot Locker unveil the new campaign ‘I AM THE RULES’ created by Wieden + Kennedy London and AKQA, to support the launch of the new Air Max 90 – styled exclusively for Foot Locker. The TV and digital campaign premieres on MTV on 15th August and then rolls out across Europe on 23rd August. Markets include the UK, France, The Netherlands, Spain and Italy.
Jack Gold, European Marketing Director of the Foot Locker business at Nike said, ‘This is a unique marketing campaign. Its strength is in its integration across all aspects of the consumer experience from retail, to digital, to advertising’.
The campaign, created by Darren Wright, Frank Ginger and Karen Jane is the first for W+K London since their appointment to the Nike Foot Locker European roster earlier this year. It features a range of athletes, designers, DJ’s and sneakerheads and celebrates each individual’s style and rebellious personality. A celebration of colour, uniqueness and a rejection of convention, the work aims to give a platform to new voices, introducing talent with a strong, independent attitude: people who write the rules rather than obey them.
Darren Wright, W+K London Creative Director said, ‘The Air Max 90 is such an iconic shoe, originally designed by legendry shoe designer Tinker Hatfield. Tinker was well known for breaking convention and doing things his way and it was this spirit we wanted to encapsulate in the ad. ‘I AM THE RULES’ is a campaign that celebrates this positive rebellion through the expressive colourway of the shoe. It’s about people who write their own rules not just break other people’s.’
Nike and Foot Locker tasked AKQA to amplify the buzz created via digital media. A campaign microsite www.footlocker.eu/nike and online banner advertising direct consumers to a ‘Prove You Rule’ application on www.facebook.com/footlocker.eu. The application invites users to define their own rules and enter a draw for a trip to London to watch Arshavin and Chamakh of Arsenal from box seats at the Emirates Stadium. Entrants to the competition receive an SMS that entitles them to claim a limited edition ‘Air Max 90’ wristband featuring the shoe colours from Foot Locker stores. The microsite also contains exclusive interviews which reveal the athlete’s own personal rules they live by.
Nick Bailey, Executive Creative Director, AKQA said, ‘Allowing fans to define the rules they live by and express their individuality is the essence of the Air Max 90. The competition is a vehicle of expression; allowing fans to define themselves with the incentive of winning a chance to see their football heroes on the pitch’.
The emerging talent featured in the 60” spot includes the global superstar Andrey Arshavin – designer, blogger, Captain of Russia and Arsenal’s midfield maestro, and exciting new Arsenal signing Marouane Chamakh. Roma and Fulham’s Stefano Okaka also appears.
Blurring the lines of fashion and sport is French World Champion female boxer and model, Ingrid Graziani. Dedicated sneakerheads will recognize the work of sneaker customizer Adam Walker aka Ghettrocentricity (as worn by up-and coming Paris-based model Camille Tanoh), as well as the face of London’s premier sneaker collector and connoisseur Kish Kash. Music fans and DJ’s alike will spot BBC Asian Network’s DJ Kayper as she gives the new Air Max 90 a spin.
The TV spot is a celebration to a unique attitude to sport, fashion, design and music and is directed by Alex & Liane, a Berlin-based duo whose previous creations include music videos for videos LaRoux, Cheryl Cole, Bloc Party and the Ting Tings.
For the duration of the campaign, staff at Foot Locker outlets across Europe will all exchange their world-famous black and white ‘striper’ jerseys for the first time in the store’s history to the colours that make up the unique colourway of the Nike Air Max 90.
10.08.2010 | New Work
W+K London launches the new Ovi campaign for Nokia in the UK this week - promoting the wonderful world of apps, games and music Nokia has to offer on Ovi store.
The spot, created by Paul Jordan and Angus McAdam, will run in the UK for 3 weeks before being launched globally.
26.07.2010 | New Work
W+K London has created the first phase of a new campaign for The Fairtrade Foundation, the ‘Fairtrade Fruit Campaign’ to raise awareness of the difference Fairtrade makes to fruit farmers, their families and communities in developing countries. The campaign launches with the collaboration between Bompas & Parr and The Big Chill festival - the creation of the ‘Ziggurat of Flavour’, a pyramidal installation, containing a cloud of breathable fruit.
The Ziggurat of Flavour will be a monolithic structure on the hills overlooking The Big Chill Festival. After negotiating the dense mist of vaporised Fairtrade fruit,
the experience climaxes as visitors emerge onto a grand slide at the top of the vast structure.
The Fairtrade fruit cloud is formatted as a labyrinth you can taste. The fresh Fairtrade fruit is being prepared onsite, liquefied by Big Chill visitors and clarified though reverse osmosis. The cloud itself is made using the same technology as Anthony Gormley’s Blind Light at the Hayward Gallery. Taste becomes spatialised as a public realm, scaled up from bodily interior to building interior. In this way the fruit becomes architecture – an immersive, habitable environment.
The Ziggurat of Flavour draws inspiration from 18th Century Cuccagna monuments. These formed the centerpieces for the most spectacular public celebrations in history.
They were vast architectural structures made of food based on the peasant tale of the Land of Cockaigne; a mythical place with mountains of cheese, rainstorms of cake and where all wildlife was pre-cooked and waiting to be eaten.
The Ziggurat of Flavour takes the most interesting aspects of the Cuccagna monument and develops them using modern techniques and technologies. This means that it is possible to create an installation that is spectacular but also food safe and cost effective.
Bompas & Parr have chosen to work with the Fairtrade Foundation on this project as Fairtrade works closely with the people who grow the fruit. Fairtrade farmers watch as nature transforms the plant from blossom to a growing fruit . As Big Chill visitors liquidise the fruit, they will get a chance to contemplate the care that goes in producing such fabulous fruit as well as help support the communities who receive a Fairtrade premium to invest on social development projects.
Katrina Larkin, Creative Director of The Big Chill comments: “Ziggurat of Flavour is fantastically eccentric - pure escapism in a sublime world of fruity fantasy, making this year’s festival a playground of truly magical and unique experiences. I’ll be first down the slide! What better way to get your five day?!”
Supporting activity for the Big Chill, created by Wieden + Kennedy, includes a print campaign, picnic mats made from Fairtrade cotton which will be handed out at the festival, scratch and sniff cards which will be available at the bottom of the Ziggurat slide as well as baby Ziggurat hampers filled with Fairtrade fruit.
20.07.2010 | New Work
Last week, Wieden + Kennedy Portland and Old Spice took a fresh approach to online brand engagement with a unique interactive strategy. The Old Spice guy who has featured in the recent, 'Your Man Could Smell Like' campaigns, engaged directly with his fans and consumers, by sending those who responded to the work, a personalized message.
This was an opportunity for fans and consumers to learn more about the Old Spice guy and the Old Spice brand by asking questions or sending responses.
Through monitoring online chatter, W+K created a list of individuals they thought they should target immediately and with just a week to shoot, they built a customised web application to manage the real-time production work flow. This application allowed them to respond so quickly - in real time.
In total, there were 186 video responses created.
In one day - the following was achieved:
Top of Digg
Top of Reddit
Trending topic on Twitter
Inventor of Twitter tweets it
Marriage proposal carried out, AND ACCEPTED
@Alyssa_Milano's home address acquired
Coverage in mainstream news / tech news / industry news
Twitter followers multiplied by 10
In 48 hours, the brand's Twitter following (@oldspice) multiplied by x21 - jumping to 63,000
At the end of the first week of the campaign, Old Spice accounted for seven of the top 10 videos on YouTube.
Editorial comments included:
Mashable.com - Wieden + Kennedy have set a standard marketing experts will admire and follow in years to come. This is the future of marketing.
TechCrunch - You know you've got a viral marketing hit on your hands when the CFO of Google mentions it in an earnings call. 'It just gives you a glimpse of where the world is going' he said with a touch of awe in his voice.
The Atlantic Wire - The makers of Old Spice have pulled off a cheap and quick marketing coup that could change the way consumer products are promoted.
Business Week - To all the companies out there who've been trying to use social media: you've just been schooled'.
Iain Tait, Global Interactive Creative Director W+K Portland said, 'In a way there's nothing magical that we've done here. We just brought a character to life using the social channels we all use every day. But we've also taken a loved character and created new episodic content in real time.'
See the work at http: //www.youtube.com/oldspice. And follow on Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com/oldspice)
