The brand is also organising Lunar Runs in Chinese cities, with celebs endorsing nighttime jogs.

NIKE – “Lunar Run – Why Run?” (Trailer) from Alex Riviere on Vimeo.

By Steve Mullins

brand-e talks to The Brand Union, New York to find out why that swoosh has endured.

“One of the beauties of the swoosh is its simplicity,” says Rob Scalea, The Brand Union’s CEO. “That means it’s a logo which is easy to adapt – you can make it contemporary, which is what Nike has done.”

And there’s no verbiage to deal with either.

“Logos often come burdened with words and when they have been refreshed, brands have tended to let them go – like Starbucks has lost ‘Starbucks Coffee’ and Target has done away with ‘Target’,” says Richard Bates, CCO at The Brand Union. “Nike hasn’t had to deal with that as the swoosh wasn’t locked off with a word. It exists as a strong marque without ‘Nike’.

“And you have a lot of synergy between the branding and the product. Something like the swoosh adds value to brand in terms of creating its identity. And it has lasted, it hasn’t gone through a lot of refreshes.”

“It’s the notion of the swoosh emulating a wing,” says Scalea. “What it says is ‘speed’, ‘flight’, ‘motion’. And, Nike has used it and applied in very smart ways.”

Plus imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

“Every branding company has looked at using swooshes at some point, says Bates. “Brands wanting to be authentic will follow trends.”

What about rivals’ efforts?

“From a design standpoint, the Nike logo is more successful then adidas and Puma,” says Scalea. “What it has more than the rest is energy… On a product that logo really can stand alone.”

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By Maria Stadtmueller

But how should poster-to-mobile campaigns using social media be pitched to consumers?

“The clear consensus emerging from the industry is that interactive campaigns, whether they are pushed at a consumer or require the consumer to act, must carry an incentive and therefore fall at least partly into the sphere of direct or transactional marketing,” says the report.

“This form of communications is largely new territory to the out of home sector and could be seen as distinct from purely visual campaigns that play a branding role. In this sense developing networks of interactive digital poster sites could be less likely to cannibalise revenues from sites playing a broadcast role.”

Kinetic points to Nike’s campaign with Nike Grid, which turned running into a game, and London into the game board, with the brand using public phones with branded content outside and inside the kiosks. Almost three quarters of players were aged 17 to 22, and in neighbourhoods where the game was played and there was no other running marketing, Nike’s number-one ‘cool brand’ status rose 11 points.

“I think the key will be location-based opportunities,” says Mark Smith of Kinetic. “You point your phone at a screen or poster as you walk into a shopping centre and it downloads vouchers for stores within 100 metres of where you’re standing. That is where out of home and interactivity gets very interesting. It won’t be the fact that the screen can do something. It will be all about your location.”

By Steve Mullins

To date, in a 12-month Red Bull integration running until March 2012, over half a million virtual cans of Red Bull have been sold in I Am Playr and users have spent over 160 days watching Red Bull content. And users have so far spent more than 800 days engaging with Nike products and branding, visiting the game’s store over 1 million times and purchasing more than 170,000 pairs of Nike boots.

Within the first 24 hours of going live in June, Alfa Romeo’s Facebook fanbase spiked 50%, while the campaign is forecast to deliver more than 1 million UK I Am Playr users engaging with the car brand, spending an average of 15 minutes with branded content and delivering over 100 million impressions.

We R Interactive has also announced the appointment of Christian Purslow, former md of Liverpool FC, to the newly created role of non-executive independent director.“We R Interactive is taking social gaming to another level with a fresh and truly innovative user experience,” says Purslow. “Its first game… allowing you to experience the life of a footballer, through the eyes of a footballer, is proving to be a massive success already and I’m thrilled to be getting involved with We R Interactive as this now proven model is rolled out to new product genres.”

By Maria Stadtmueller

“During the two day workshop at Nike headquarters, we invited the participants to record their runs and then using our custom software we imported the metrics from their run, to create visuals based on the speed, consistency and unique style of each person’s run,” says YesYesNo.

“Using the software the participants were able to play with the mapping and adjust the composition of their run which was then outputted as a high resolution print for them to take home. We also worked with the Innovation Lab at Nike to laser etch the runner’s name, the distance they ran and their run path onto a custom fabricated shoe box, which contained a pair of the City Pack shoes from their city of origin.”

Now, that’s marketing with legs.

Nike+ City Runs from yesyesno on Vimeo.

The first issue’s contributors include photographers Shaniqwa Jarvis and Alex Sturrock, filmmakers Nina Manandhar and Cieron Magat, UK Wired executive editor Greg Williams and artist Rhys Coren, with an exclusive Rafa Nadal cover shot.

By Steve Mullins

Of course, it would be crazy to use the destination as a mere broadcast platform, which is why Nike also launched a The Chosen video contest, where consumers have been tasked with coming up with a response film to the ad which features surk, skate and BMX action. As a first step, the brand is asking for clip submissions featuring people’s film crews.

“We’re looking for the crews that capture the most style, creativity and originality with their videos,” says Nike. “Show us footage that’s unexpected and fresh – not necessarily the best trick-to-trick video part. Push your crew’s collective creativity and show us original, insightful stuff, and don’t forget to pack your videos full of your own personality and style.”

What’s on offer?

“The chosen crew will score the ultimate prize – premium travel, exclusive events and custom product. Five minutes of video could win you the experience of a lifetime.”

Just do it, right?