Nike has worked steadily to support its brand image as a cool, hip, lifestyle brand, ultilizing celebrity spokespeople and partnerships to showcase who they want to be. Their latest branding project: Nike had a rap song commissioned in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Air Force 1 shoe. Nike hired prominent hip-hop musicians (Kanye West, etc.) to write the song and, given their partnership with Apple, have it available for sale on iTunes. The kicker: all proceeds benefit youth programs in Baltimore (where the Air Force 1 shoe originally took off).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/business/media/26nike.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Nike Commissions a Rap Song in Honor of Its Air Force 1 Shoe
Since last summer, Nike has been selling workout music on Apple's iTunes store, including some original tracks from several electronic music artists. Now the company is offering songs for those who enjoy its sneakers as lifestyle accessories.
To recognize the 25th anniversary of its Air Force 1 sneaker, the company commissioned a song from some prominent hip-hop musicians: the producer Rick Rubin and the rappers Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One. It also paid for a remix by D J Premier that features the rapper Rakim. The song, "Better Than I've Ever Been," has been available on iTunes since Tuesday.
Nike paid the artists for their work, will own the copyright to the recordings and even supplied the song's theme -- perseverance.
The company will donate all sales proceeds to youth programs in Baltimore, where the Air Force 1 first took off in independent stores.
“We put together what would be the dream song,” said Jeff Tammes, a marketing director at Cornerstone, the promotions company that coordinates music products for Nike on iTunes. Cornerstone will also promote the song to radio stations. Nike also financed the production of an MTV special about the Air Force 1, which featured a performance by Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One and Rakim.
G. Roberson, who manages Kanye West, said that the rapper was interested in the project because it was an opportunity to work with musicians he respects. Matthew Kemp, who manages Rakim, said the same applied to his client.
“There’s compensation involved,” Mr. Kemp said, “but that wasn’t why we did it.”
ROBERT LEVINE
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