早在2012年7月，耐克就在其廣告片《由此上陣》中，把現(xiàn)實(shí)世界變成了一個(gè)受到任天堂《超級(jí)瑪麗》啟發(fā)的視頻游戲。如今，視頻游戲已經(jīng)成為世界領(lǐng)先的娛樂行業(yè)，耐克也隨之加大了與視頻游戲文化的結(jié)合。據(jù)研究公司Newzoo估計(jì)，全球游戲行業(yè)今年的規(guī)模將超過915億美元。

據(jù)美國娛樂軟件協(xié)會(huì)統(tǒng)計(jì)，超過1.55億美國人經(jīng)常玩游戲。游戲玩家的平均年齡為35歲，其中44%的玩家為女性。全球游戲玩家的規(guī)模則更加龐大，據(jù)DFC Intelligence估計(jì)，全球現(xiàn)有超過14億游戲玩家。

耐克推出的凱里?歐文新戰(zhàn)靴Kyrie 2，2015年底在2K公司的《NBA 2K16》視頻游戲里首次亮相。此前不久，耐克喬丹品牌首次進(jìn)軍手機(jī)視頻游戲領(lǐng)域，宣傳克里斯?保羅的新戰(zhàn)靴CP3.9。

為了宣傳這款售價(jià)115美元的運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋，耐克還特意與數(shù)字營銷機(jī)構(gòu)AKQA合作，開發(fā)出一款復(fù)古游戲《Striking Control》。消費(fèi)者可以在手機(jī)和電腦上玩這款觸屏游戲。

玩家可以在Jordan.com/strikingControl上下載游戲，控制保羅的虛擬化身，穿越喬丹品牌幻想的城市景觀。玩家可以左右移動(dòng)，越過障礙物和躲避閃電，還可以做出保羅的招牌動(dòng)作，包括胯下運(yùn)球、背后運(yùn)球，假動(dòng)作，穿襠、側(cè)步和轉(zhuǎn)身等。游戲背景音樂是饒舌歌手Drake and Boi-1da演唱的《Energy》的混音版。

喬丹品牌發(fā)言人布萊恩?法基尼表示，公司將CP3.9游戲視為一種有趣的方式，借此將內(nèi)容直接展示給消費(fèi)者。他說，這款游戲是Striking Control營銷活動(dòng)的延伸，旨在體現(xiàn)保羅在賽場上的敏捷身手，并鼓勵(lì)消費(fèi)者展開競賽。

AKQA在游戲體驗(yàn)中融入了社交媒體。用戶可以發(fā)布帶#StrikingControl標(biāo)簽的推文和閃電表情符號(hào)，在虛擬游戲世界創(chuàng)建屬于自己的閃電，當(dāng)另一位玩家被打敗之后，你所創(chuàng)造的閃電會(huì)和你的用戶名一起出現(xiàn)。

法基尼表示：“在考慮向消費(fèi)者推出游戲時(shí)，手機(jī)是明確的選擇。我們知道人們每天都很忙，大量時(shí)間都花在了移動(dòng)設(shè)備上，因此我們希望迎合移動(dòng)平臺(tái)?！?/p>

瑞銀投資銀行分析師邁克爾?比內(nèi)蒂表示，耐克及其喬丹品牌所面臨的一個(gè)永恒的挑戰(zhàn)就是，如何保年輕、新鮮和相關(guān)性。

比內(nèi)蒂說道：“耐克經(jīng)歷過一代又一代的自我轉(zhuǎn)變，并且非常成功，這對(duì)于一個(gè)歷史悠久的品牌來說并不容易?！?/p>

比內(nèi)蒂認(rèn)為，耐克最近利用視頻游戲的作法很有意義，因?yàn)檫@一代人消費(fèi)媒體的方式也在發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)變。

比內(nèi)蒂說道：“現(xiàn)在有太多千禧一代甚至更年輕一代，對(duì)視頻游戲非常癡迷；他們與同齡人的互動(dòng)，或者說今天的社交貨幣，都發(fā)生在游戲過程當(dāng)中。”

此外，開發(fā)游戲資源也是出于財(cái)務(wù)考慮。比內(nèi)蒂稱，這樣做歸根結(jié)底是為了樹立媒體印象，追隨大眾關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)。

比內(nèi)蒂說道：“在NBC電視臺(tái)的黃金時(shí)段打廣告，和花更少的錢通過游戲，抓住他們的目標(biāo)客戶，哪一種作法更有意義？”

事實(shí)上，多數(shù)NBA球員都是熱心的游戲玩家，包括歐文和保羅，這也在耐克與游戲玩家之間搭起了橋梁。

比內(nèi)蒂表示：“如果消費(fèi)者知道凱里是游戲玩家，這將有助于講述這個(gè)故事?！?/p>

最近的新鞋發(fā)布也與NBA有關(guān)。據(jù)報(bào)道，耐克最近以10億美元的代價(jià)，獲得了NBA為期8年的授權(quán)。比內(nèi)蒂認(rèn)為，NBA的授權(quán)可以幫助耐克在全球市場推廣業(yè)務(wù)和游戲。

他表示：“選擇諸如視頻游戲和手機(jī)應(yīng)用這類可以跨地域分享的媒介，是非常聰明的作法?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

審校：任文科

Back in July 2012, Nike turned the world into a Nintendo Mario Bros.-inspired video game with the“Game On, World” commercial. These days, Nike is further embracing a video game culture that has become the leading entertainment industry in the world. Research firm Newzoo estimates the global games industry will generate over $91.5 billion this year.

According to the Entertainment Software Association, over 155 million Americans play games regularly. The average age of a gamer is 35, and 44% of gamers are female. And the audience is even large on a global scale, with DFC Intelligence estimating there are over 1.4 billion gamers worldwide.

Nikerecently turned to 2K’s NBA 2K16 video game to debut Kyrie Irving’s new sneaker, Kyrie 2. That comes on the heels of Nike’s Jordan Brand entering the mobile video game fray for the first time to promote Chris Paul’s new shoe, the CP3.9.

The company worked with digital agency AKQA to develop the retro game Striking Control to promote the $115 sneaker. Consumers can play the touch-screen game on mobile devices as well as on PCs.

Available at Jordan.com/StrikingControl, players control Paul’s 8-bit avatar through a Jordan Brand-inspired cityscape. As they move right or left to navigate obstacles and dodge lightning, they’ll perform Paul’s signature moves, including the crossover, behind the back, juke, through the legs, side-step, and spin. The game features a chiptune remix of “Energy” by rapper Drake and Boi-1da.

Jordan Brand spokesman Brian Facchini says the company looked at the CP3.9 game as a fun way to bring content directly to its consumers. He says the game is an extension of the Striking Controlmarketing campaign, which celebrates Paul’s quickness on the court and challenges consumers to compete against each other.

AKQA integrated social media into the experience. Users can tweet #StrikingControl and the lightning emoji to create their own in-game lightning bolt, which will appear along with their Twitter handle when another player is struck down.

“When we looked at delivering the game to consumers, mobile was the clear choice,” Facchini says. “We know that people are busy today and spend most of their time on mobile devices so we wanted to cater to that platform.”

Michael Binetti, analyst at UBS Investment Bank, says the eternal challenge for Nike and its Jordan Brand is to stay young, fresh, and relevant.

“Nike has done as good a job of transitioning itself from generation to generation, which is hard for an old brand to do,” Binetti says.

Nike’s recent exploration of video games makes sense to Binetti, as there’s been a shift in how this generation consumes media.

“There are so many millennials’ — and younger — eyeballs on video game screens; and how they interact with peers, today’s social currency occurs in gaming,” Binetti says.

There’s also a financial reason for this recent exploration of gaming. Binetti says at the end of the day it’s a matter of media impressions and following where the eyeballs are.

“Does it make sense to advertise on NBC during prime time, or spend a smaller dollar amount for the exact customer they’re looking for through gaming?” Binetti says.

The fact that most NBA players are also avid gamers, including both Irving and Paul, helps Nike connect with gamers.

“If the customer knows that Kyrie is a gamer, it’s good for the storytelling,” Binetti says.

These recent shoe releases also connect to the NBA, for which Nike recently won the license at a reported cost of $1 billion for eight years. Binetti says the NBA license will help Nike globalize its business, as will games.

“Finding a media like video games and apps that you can share across geographies is brilliant,” Binetti says.