Insight
To celebrate rebellious creativity this Air Max Day, Nike uncovered the shoe’s rule-breaking roots.
Before Air Max was iconic in the mainstream, it was popular with icons of the underground. Thanks to underground artists who flexed the shoe on their feet and on-air through lyrics, Air Max became a name.
Idea
Now that Air Max is mainstream, it’s time to give back to the music that shaped the shoe.
Nike paid homage to today’s underground talent the same way artists brought up Air Max back then – through radio airwaves.
Airing live from JD Sports NYC, On Air.MAX was the first radio station that dropped new shoes and put emerging artists in front of Air Max’s mainstream fanbase.
Tuning into the culture by giving underground artists a major platform.
Nike enlisted the biggest underground music broadcaster Boiler Room to source artists and hosts from the local underground scene for a full day of talk and music.
NYC artists like Kilopatrah, Grabba Ranks, Hu Dat and Khalil performed and talked about culture, the future of music and the impact of the underground.
Inviting fans to unlock Air Max directly from the airwaves.
Listeners at home could call into the radio hotline to unlock the newly released Air Max Pulse and other exclusive Air items. Shoppers in store were also able to unlock giveaways by interacting with the radio in real time through QR codes.
A throwback to the culture.
Nike posted radio flyers all over NYC’s hot spots, a throwback to underground methods of the past.
Impact
Nike has left a permanent footprint on today’s underground.
By giving rising artists’ mainstream exposure, On Air.MAX solidified Air Max as the unofficial sponsor for underground music and rebellious creativity.
Nike and JD Sports gave the new generation of underground music an increased following and a huge visibility boost, while connecting the culture back to Air Max.
