5.4Nike Reactland
THE PROJECT
Using hacked gym treadmills as the controller, a tablet App to capture users' likenesses, a global leaderboard, and a cloud-rendered takeaway video of the user's experience highlights, The Nike Reactland campaign was fronted by an endless runner game.
The installation was designed to be showcased across five locations in mainland China to promote the release of the new Nike React running shoe, all with differing giant screen configurations and aspect ratios. The project timeline was short, the team assembled to design and develop the experience was large, and there were multiple moving parts the QA team needed to be abreast of.
THE CHALLENGE
The predominant challenge posed by this project was integrating unconventional hardware with the Unity-powered game and ensuring it could withstand the pressures of extended usage throughout the event.
Additional challenges came from the ecosystem of interconnected components: a tablet app that captured users' likenesses and turned them into pixelated runners, a global leaderboard pitting Nike stores against each other, and a shareable video for the Chinese social networks. All stores had bespoke giant screens with different aspect ratios and orientations, so ensuring the game worked across these was resource-intensive.
THE APPROACH
We conducted feature testing of the build and all functional components throughout production in London at the hardware workshop. We initiated QA at the prototyping phase and continued testing through delivery and onsite installation.
The installations were due to be running for multiple back-to-back days, so all components had to withstand the pressures associated with long running periods. To uncover potential weaknesses, we implemented an automated overnight mode to run the experience back-to-back for as long as required, allowing us to monitor performance and ensure it wouldn’t degrade over time.
THE RESULT
The experience was successfully deployed in four stores and one pop-up location across mainland China and ran for a month, functioning faultlessly and without needing any warranty period fixes.
The installation received glowing press, and nearly half of all participants bought pairs of the sneakers being launched. The agencies and studios involved in The Nike Reactland campaign received multiple awards, including FWA’s 'best of the year'.
Agency: UNIT9
Type: Experiential
Year: 2018