Nike True City - Foursquare for hipsters?

I was going to post some screengrabs and the like from the new Nike True City iPhone App, but this video by AKQA says everything I could a lot better.



I've had a play around with the app and am now itching to go to Paris with a bit of time to wander round, as well as check out the places on my doorstep I'm not cool enough to know about.

There's a lot of added value here for a tool which essentially only really has the benefit for the advertiser of having a 'buzz' section which counts down the time until a particular new product 'drops'.



There's likely to be a bit of an initial stampede of people claiming landmarks, businesses that want to be associated with this sort of crowd sticking their names down, and attempts by the likes of me to become one of the 'Insiders', if only because they're all kitted out in Nike gear.

I'll be interested to see if this will get the uptake it probably deserves, or if it sits more as an example of polished work. There's even QR interactivity. About the only thing missing is Augmented Reality.

Nike True City iPhone App Launches Early

Despite the buzz video below, the Nike True City iPhone Application has landed in the App store a day early. I'm quite excited about the possibilities, as it claims to 'Make The Hidden Visible' by tapping into a network of 'tastemakers', or cool people as you and I know them.

Nike True City from NikeSportswear on Vimeo.

London, Berlin, Milan, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris are featured, and events and product launches from Nike as well as adding in other Social Media functionality and allowing contributors to become 'insiders'.

Judging by the length of time it's taking to download the app, it's going to be hefty. I'll try and play with it and get some screenshots up later.

Sneaks Du Jour - Reebok Court Victory Pump

I never made it round to the Nike pop-up store in Shoreditch because I am the sort of person too lazy to bother to find something that interests me on my own doorstep until it's too late. A lesson learnt I think.

Anyway, Reebok have apparently launched their first pop-up store (am I the only person who envisions it being flat until you open the door? Like a pop-up book? No?) in New York, and will be selling a weekly special edition sneaker.



The first week is the NYC Court Victory Pump. It's garish but it's good. And, if you're in Manhattan, specifically on Bowery, it'll set you back around $135.

Sneaks Du Jour - Nike Dunk Hi St.Pauli

Pirates have been pretty big this year, what with the Facebook Pirate Language Craze following International Pirate Day and the whole thing in the last month or so with actual pirates doing actual piracy, stealing ships and demanding ransoms instead of making lame copies of DVDs.

With celebs like Russell Brand sporting the skull and crossbones motif and the general renaissance of all things wooden-legged and parrot-shouldered, I reckon these Nike Dunk Hi St Pauli limited edition trainers should do quite well.



St. Pauli are a German football club whose fans are remarkable in a kind of 1980s Wimbledon 'Crazy Gang' kind of way. Only more so. Hence why this is possibly the first pair of trainers to bear the name of a football/ soccer team that isn't an absolute gaudy monstrosity.



There are only 500 pairs of these worldwide, but you can pick them up for a relative steal at £89.99.

Franck Ribery in The Pink Panther Ad for Nike

Bayern Munich and France midfielder Franck Ribery conjures up the idea of a few movies from looking at him. You know Ribery, he looks like Peter Beardsley would have looked if he'd been brought up in care.



Which is why I am absolutely astonished to see him starring in this advert for the Nike Mercurial Vapour Rosa. It's based around the start of The Pink Panther Show. The jaunty one, not the suspenseful 'der der' one. The only connection I can see is that Ribery is French, like Inspector Clouseau, and the boots are pink.



Yes, pink football boots. Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal got an inordinate amount of stick for sporting the same new boots at the weekend. As well as this sort of thing from the Telegraph, Matthew Le Tissier was horrendously scathing about Bendtner wearing such a garment when having done 'nothing in the game'. Not Saturday's game, football. Harsh but true.



Anyway, Ribery is a quality player but this is kind of like Paul Scholes being King Rollo. Unlikely, but brilliant. It's worth watching just to remind you of the music, too. Well done Nike.

Sneaks Du Jour - MoBama Dunk 08

As if Barack Obama hadn't been pervasive enough in our lives, artist Virtual Mo created these Nike Dunks called the Mobama Dunk 08.



You can't buy these, but it doesn't stop them being good. It probably makes them better.

Nikization Threat to Tokyo's Miyashita Park

Nike seem to be on the verge of an horrendous own goal in their admittedly creative attempt to buy a run-down park in the middle of Tokyo.



Nike's Japanese subsidiary Nike Japan has arranged with the mayor of Tokyo's Shibuya ward to buy Miyashita Park, a haven for over 30 homeless people in tents and badly neglected for years, to buy the right to rebrand the park as Nike Park and renovate it into a space for sports including skateboarding and football. The deal will cost the sportswear giant a million Euros initially with three times that amount ploughed into the renovation.



The move has become controversial not for the company's plans to change the name - this is commonplace in Japan as it is in the USA - but because of the fact that the homeless people will be moved on, apparently with scant regard for their welfare.


Irregular Rhythm Asylum has posted the images you see here as funky protests against the move, while The Coalition to Protect Miyashita Park from Becoming Nike Park objects to the 'top down' imposition of the project and the lack of comeback for local residents.



The story has been picked up everyone from skating blogs like You Will Soon to Global Voices and The Observers, and I found it on Slamxhype and Hypebeast, ironically framed by a funky fireplace for Nike's Windrunner (see below).



As someone who isn't a resident of Shibuya (although I have been there a number of times) it's impossible for me to comment on the impact to the local community, but I suspect this might be a slightly different story were a smaller company than scary multinational giant Nike involved. Having said that, they should really know better and will do well to turn this round with an elegant solution to the problem of relocating the homeless element.

I would expect this might be the sort of situation to arise, although without the homeless controversy, around the redevelopment of East London ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. There is already a debate about the legacy of 2012 and the costs of maintaining the facilities after the games have gone, and corporate sponsorships would provide a solution that could prove beneficial to organisers, corporations and, most importantly (for I am one) local residents.

Run to the beat

As part of the ongoing hoop-la around their much-vaunted tie-in with Apple, Nike+, the funky folk at the sporting giant have collaborated with DJ A-Trak to create a special 'Running Man' track designed to help you with your training.



Running Man: Nike+ Original Run is a 45-minute mix which begins with a gradual build-up or warming up period before hitting a running groove and ending with a slower cooling down phase.

Adidas' own attempt to follow in the footsteps of their fierce rivals, a collaboration with Samsung via a mobile phone, looks like being left behind both in technological and marketing terms.

Nike have supplemented their already successful events programme with their latest venture, The Human Race, which pits cities across the world against each other. Aside from having a unique and market-leading product, through the Nike+ brand they continue to take strides towards owning popular running, an area they have not traditionally excelled in.