Nike China: Reinventing the Athlete Tour

This case study details how Nike, the sportswear brand, launched NBA superstar Kevin Durant's new shoes, the KD9s, in China by inviting NBA2K (an online video game) players to compete for the chance to represent China against Kevin himself.

Campaign details

Brand: Nike ChinaLead agency: Mindshare ChinaRegion: APAC

Objectives

NBA superstar Kevin Durant came to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in July 2016 to launch his new shoes, the KD9's.

Rather than a small event attended by a few, the ambition was to create a revolutionary event format that maximized reach and genuine fan engagement with the superstar.

Target audience

All basketball fans

Creative strategy

The entire activation was centered on two critical insights.

First, Kevin Durant (or KD as his fans call him) is crazy good at NBA2K Online. Like ridiculously good....

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