Nike City Fast

Objective

Nike launched a new Air Zoom Mariah Flyknit sneaker in August 2017, targeting UK consumers through a high-traffic retail touchpoint. The brand partnered with UNIT9 to create an interactive mobile game embedded in JD Sports' app, aiming to generate engagement and awareness for the product launch by offering competitive gameplay with tangible rewards.

Solution

Nike City Fast is a minimalist platform runner game where players navigate through three urban zones (rural, industrial, downtown) featuring parkour-inspired obstacles and a smokey cityscape aesthetic. Players control silhouetted male or female avatars equipped with Nike Fast Pack shoes using intuitive mobile controls: tap to accelerate, swipe up to jump, swipe down to slide. The game tracks player scores on a leaderboard, and participants entered a time-limited competition (August 14-28, 2017) by sharing their scores on Facebook. The game was developed in four weeks and distributed exclusively within the JD Sports iOS and Android app, ensuring visibility within a retail environment where purchase intent was already high.

Results

The campaign won 1 FWA (Favorite Website Awards) recognition.