Nike kicks up coloring book with AR sneakers

Brief:

Nike published a custom magazine that lets readers decorate black-and-white drawings of its Air Max sneakers and see their creations in a 3D augmented reality (AR) experience on their smartphones. The sportswear brand handed out 1,000 copies of its 56-page "Create with Air Max" publication at stores in Japan, Muse by Clio reported.
As demonstrated in a video on YouTube, "Create with Air Max" has several pages of Air Max diagrams that resemble a coloring book. Readers can draw on the diagrams with colored pens and scan an accompanying QR code with a smartphone camera to see a digital version of their creations hover above the page.
Mobile users can share their creations on social media as short animations. Nike worked with creative agency AKQA Tokyo, Shanghai and New York on "Create with Air Max," which also featured interviews with Japanese entertainers and influencers, Muse by Clio reported.

Insight:

Nike's AR activation in its "Create with Air Max" magazine is a novel use of the immersive technology to engage consumers in a branded experience on their smartphones. Unlike regular coloring books, the magazine lets people bring their creations to life with a vivid 3D rendition that looks more realistic, showing off key features of the Air Max sneakers. Nike printed just 1,000 copies of the magazine to reach a focused group of people in the creative and sneakerhead community, but the brand can extend the campaign's reach as people share their designs on social media.

"Create with Air Max" follows Nike's past efforts to engage global consumers with branded AR experiences. The company in May set up a microsite for customers in Brazil to visit before raising their phones to the sky to see an AR cloud shaped like an Air Max sneaker. After finding the cloud, mobile users were given a chance to unlock content including exclusive music videos, tracks and interviews with celebrity performers. Last year, Nike launched a mobile-based campaign that urged people to visit sites throughout São Paulo featuring graffiti artworks painted with Air Max shoes. The "Graffiti Stores" used geolocation technology to verify that mobile users were nearby the artworks, and gave shoppers a chance to buy new Air Max models before they were available in stores.

Nike is among the brands that have incorporated AR technology in their recent campaigns to engage homebound consumers during the coronavirus pandemic. With many consumers avoiding stores, AR technology can be used to demonstrate products including apparel and accessories. Sunglass maker Goodr boosted conversion rates 32% among mobile shoppers with a recent AR experience that let people virtually try on its sunglasses before making a purchase. Bollé last month similarly let Instagram users virtually try on its Phantom model of sunglasses to see how its different styles of lenses work. Adidas, Burberry, Gucci and Puma also have adopted AR technology in their marketing efforts.