Blast Radius: Nothing but Net
The NBA All-Star game is strut-your-stuff time, both on court and off. So at the 2007 extravaganza in Las Vegas the Jordan brand unveiled the Air Jordan XX2, its latest exercise in putting wings to human feet, with apposite panache. Online, the launch was just as splashy. A cross-media campaign created by the Vancouver-based firm Blast Radius — designed and executed with the help of Apple hardware and software — gave the new shoe a powerful digital assist.
Marcus Ericsson, creative director of Blast Radius, led the cross-media campaign for the launch of Air Jordan XX2.
While lead Nike agency Wieden + Kennedy is responsible for overall branding, messaging, and creative concepts, Blast Radius specializes in website design and creation (it’s responsible for managing jumpman23.com, the official Brand Jordan website) and digital extensions such as podcasting and SMS messaging — just the ticket to reach the shoe’s target youth market.
Blast Radius works closely with Nike’s Brand Jordan team. “More than your typical client-agency relationship, it’s really a partnership,” notes Blast Radius creative director Marcus Ericsson. “Tight collaboration is essential to delivering a cohesive online user experience as we take the shoe into the mobile space.”
Goin’ Mobile
Today, scoring with a young audience means going mobile. “It’s more and more critical,” emphasizes Ericsson. His company reaches out via such techniques as a shortcode (text message XX2 to 23623) consumers can text to receive a schedule of All-Star week events on their cell phones. Fans can also download icons, ring tones, shoe imagery, and music from the Jordan site.
To ensure an impressive debut for the XX2 in Las Vegas, Blast Radius designed a booth with enormous, eye-catching projection displays. A VJ used Final Cut Pro, QuickTime Pro, and Keynote on a MacBook Pro on the show floor to remix website content, footage of attendees shot by an onsite video crew, and slideshows of people visiting the Air Jordan photo booth to check out Brand Jordan’s new “How I Rock My J’s” campaign.
Explains Ericsson, “People come to these events in their best pair of Jordans, which they don’t normally wear outside, so it’s a chance to show off their best kicks. The idea of the campaign is to show how they hook their shoes with fashion.” Each visitor got a glossy print of his or her own All-Star threads.
“Take Over” Campaign
The new Air Jordan XX2 sports a distinctly high-tech look. Its designers took their cues from the F22 fighter jet to craft the shoe’s futuristic, gray camouflage style. “It plays on the notion of stealth on the basketball court and the player’s ability to take over the game at all points, whether on offense or defense,” says Ericsson.
The broadcast and print campaigns for the XX2 focus on how athletes maintain dominance. “It’s physical preparation and mental readiness, combined with the utility of the product, that let the ballplayer change the game on the court,” says Ericsson.
The “take over” theme also carries through to the digital domain, where Blast Radius offers consumers an interactive experience. “Unlike broadcast and print, the digital brand is personal and immersive,” notes Ericsson. “We journey deeper into the mind of the athlete to understand what ingredients enable him to take over.”
Ericsson and his teammates used Final Cut Pro to edit sequences of richly layered video that explore five distinct elements of the take-over: prepare, defend, engage, evade, and strike. The essence of each verb is animated through video that highlights specific shoe features.
