*supercollider

Today our team at AKQA and AKQA Mobile launched Nike PhotoiD, a new way of using the NikeiD customization service. How does Nike PhotoiD work? It’s a simple 4-step process:

Note that the mobile shortcode varies by country, check for yours near the bottom of this post.

What it looks like
Here’s a few example shots that have been making their way around the office, including a photo of the Windows default screen as a Dunk, and the flowers in reception:

Why I think it’s interesting from a marketing perspective
Admittedly I’m biased, but there’s a few things I really like about this.

First, it’s not a campaign about NikeiD. I think it’s better categorized as a product enhancement. Instead of just telling you about NikeiD, PhotoiD gives you a whole other way of interacting with it.

And for me, the idea that instead of going through the process of building your shoe from scratch you can simply source and apply inspiration from the environment around you is an interesting one.

Along with my colleagues, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to build applications and services for brands that people might be interested in engaging with, whether because they are enjoyable or useful, ideally both.

Attempting to create something people would actively seek out and share is generally not the easy route, but it’s definitely an interesting alternative to simply delivering messaging through advertising, and I think it can be ultimately a lot more rewarding to everyone involved.

With that in mind, I hope we’ve been able to create something in partnership with Nike that people do enjoy interacting with, whether they use it one time or fifty.

Where it might go
For launch the service is just for Nike Dunk sneakers, and matches and applies the two primary colours of your photo. If you do want more colours than that you can simply use the returned shoe as the starting point and keep customizing away.

But yeah, we hear the call for more shoes and more colours, and we are definitely listening.

We’ve also got a few ideas for how we could take this much further, but I’ll have to keep them under my hat for the moment. I’ll welcome any suggestions though!

Country shortcodes
The initial launch includes 9 territories in Europe. If you want to give it a try, simply MMS a photo and the word ‘DUNK’ to the following shortcodes:

• 88247 in the UK

• 3464646402 in Italy
• 99666 in Germany
• 5222 in Spain
• 31000 in France
• 1231 in Denmark
• 17163 in Finland
• 2201 in Norway
• 72445 in Sweden

Tips to get the best results
A few suggestions to get the best Dunks back from your shots:

1. Get close up. Fill the frame with well-defined, vivid colors.
2. Go for a small number of distinct colors over a large number of potential colors.
3. Indoors (or outdoors in low-light) use your flash if you have one for optimal results.

Happy Dunking!

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engagement, marketing, utility, mobile, photoid, nike, innovation