Nike Brazil launched a retail-cultural crossover stunt in São Paulo that encouraged artists of all kinds to draw Nike Air Max shoes on their murals across the city to spearhead the launch of the sportswear behemoth’s latest suite of Air Max trainers.
Nike partnered with the Brazilian street-art collective InstaGraffiti to literally put new Air Max trainers on the feet of those that most represent São Paulo’s street culture: the city’s graffiti characters.
The underlying objective behind the mural stunt was to transform São Paulo’s streets into Nike stores.
Air Max Graffiti Stores from CasaSP on Vimeo.
The marketing team’s wider insights behind this campaign understood that Nike’s Air Max trainers have historically been part of urban culture all over the world.
But locally, this campaign, which was developed in harness with AKQA’s São Paulo studio, was built around a local decision and certainly has political undertones
The idea followed on from the city’s mayor’s decision to crack down on graffiti art across São Paulo.
“We always seek new ways to connect people with brands. This project shows how we can apply creativity to hack the accepted system,” explained AKQA Executive Creative Director Diego Machado.
“Nike as a brand is part of AKQA’s soul, and this partnership dates back to before AKQA São Paulo even existed, which gives this Grand Prix a special meaning for us. We are thankful to the Nike Brazil team for them supporting the idea with the same defiant spirit that defines the iconic Air Max.”
Comment:
A smart, apt street stunt that recognises that authentic initiatives (whether marketing or art) typically draw inspiration from specific audiences and communities.
This campaign boasted both unique impact and surprising staying power: the murals remained long after the other aspects of the Air Max launch programme were long gone.
We are not surprised that, according to Nike itself, the brand’s Brazilian website saw a 22% increase in visitors after the murals went up.
Little wonder then that the Nike/AKQA’s Graffiti Stores retail initiative won the Grand Prix Media Lion at Cannes 2019 and also scooped plenty of other awards such in the outdoor and the social behaviour and cultural insight categories.
Links:
Nike
https://www.facebook.com/nike/
https://www.youtube.com/user/nike
https://www.instagram.com/nike/
AKQA São Paulo
https://www.akqa.com/studios/sao-paulo/
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.