Kicking their way to the top

For many young men in Russia, football (aka soccer) is an obsession. They play day and night on scruffy neighborhood pitches called Korobkas. But there's little hope of going pro, because the Russian Premier League tends to ignore local talent and import foreign players.

To give local scrappers a leg up, Nike created a system of "selfie scouting," which allowed Russian amateurs to show off their skills to pro scouts, using cellphone videos. From 8,000 submissions, an elite squad named K11 was assembled for a match against a team from Britain's Nike Academy - an event viewed on national TV, YouTube and Facebook Live by over 800,000 people. The match earned two K11 players contracts with the Nike Academy and woke the Russian sports establishment to the talent right under their noses. K11 2.0 is underway right now.

The K11 project is a great example of a brand immersing itself in the customer experience (in this case, street-level culture) in an authentic way. The fact that the engagement from K11 probably sold a lot of Nike shoes is almost beside the point. As always, Nike is thinking much, much bigger.

Playing with your food

RZA, tunes and a side fresh guac...? Sign me up! Chipotle Mexican Grill has created a giveaway campaign to raise awareness of only using the freshest ingredients in their food, tied together with hip-hop music. Along with RZA (multi-platinum hip-hop legend and creator and producer of the Wu-Tang Clan) they have created SAVORWAVS.com  “an immersive digital experience that reinterprets each ingredient in Chipotle’s food as music and responsive visuals.”

RZA created a unique sound to represent each of the 51 fresh ingredients on Chipotle's menu and those sounds were then paired with distinctive visual representations. When customers generate their food orders (through mobile phones) they also create a unique "visual song" based on the ingredients needed to complete their orders. The composition then results in a real-time, 360º visual-experience watched through their mobile phone. 

Chipotle also involved several other well-known artists to compose their favorite Chipotle orders accented with their own individual styles. Artists such as, Wu-Tang Clan, The Head and the Heart and Awolnation all participated in the campaign and their songs can be found on SAVORWAVS.com, Spotify and at Soundcloud.

But wait, there is more! Customers who partake in SAVOR.WAVS can also earn a buy-one-get-one entrée to experience the exclusive version of their favorite order. Chipotle knocks it out of the park by giving customers alternative ways to experience their food orders, listen to their favorite artists and enjoy free meals!

Lyft'ing our spirits

Showing customer appreciation helps to solidify yourself as a brand that understands CX. Lyft accomplished this task by taking over a Los Angeles car wash and turning it into a feel-good experience. The car wash, which was completely decked out in Lyft's signature pink, was charging only $1 for a full-service wash as a thank you to their customers. Even better, all profits were donated to the L.A. Regional Food Bank. A clean car and giving back to the community, a total win-win experience!

Lyft definitely deserves some acknowledgment as they show us how gratitude and humanity combine together for an amazing event.

Dawg-ma debunked

If you know Chicago, you know that Chicagoan’s have a deep, deep love for hot dogs. Dressed in yellow mustard, chopped onions, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle spear, tomato slices, pickled sport peppers and dash of celery salt. Almost everything but ketchup, because everybody knows, NO KETCHUP ALLOWED. That would be a sin.

This no-ketchup attitude enticed Heinz to pull off the chicagodogsauce.com campaign. Introducing a new tomato-based “Chicago DogSauce”. (Plot twist… it is actually ketchup).  The product was available “for a limited time only” and was supported by print and out-of-home advertising in the Chicago area. See how the locals reacted to Chicago Dog Sauce:

Bravo Heinz, (slow clapping) bravo… Helping consumers get over a negative stigma by opening their minds using their taste buds. Now Chicago ketchup lovers can enjoy smothering their dogs without fear of judgement.

How taxi ads are helping NYC air travelers save time

Ever wish you could spend less time traveling to and from airports?

In 2015, United Airlines stopped flying out of JFK, NY and landed (apologies for the terrible pun) in Newark, NJ. There is a well-known perception amongst NYC travelers that flying out of JFK saves more time versus than flying out of Newark. United took on the challenge of debuting this myth and educating the NYC masses by placing digital ads placed on top of NYC taxis with travel time to both airports. This would inform a potential traveler which airport would be quicker to get to based on traffic and the vehicle’s location. Curb, a taxi hailing app, supplied United with the GPS data while also making themselves easily available for potential travelers to book the fare on the spot.

A toast to United for making the typically terrible NYC travel experience exponentially better, and for helping travelers everywhere find time for that pre-flight cocktail!