[SYSTEM SPECS]
CLIENT: NIKE
PROGRAM: AIR MAX ACCELERATOR (AIR MAX DAY 2021)
ROLE: CREATIVE STRATEGY + PLATFORM FRAMING + SYSTEM DESIGN
OUTPUT: MULTI-YEAR CULTURAL FRAMEWORK
STATUS: STRATEGY CONTRIBUTED // EXECUTION LED BY NIKE + PARTNER AGENCIES
PROGRAM: AIR MAX ACCELERATOR (AIR MAX DAY 2021)
ROLE: CREATIVE STRATEGY + PLATFORM FRAMING + SYSTEM DESIGN
OUTPUT: MULTI-YEAR CULTURAL FRAMEWORK
STATUS: STRATEGY CONTRIBUTED // EXECUTION LED BY NIKE + PARTNER AGENCIES
AIR MAX: FROM ICON TO OPERATING SYSTEM
re-architecting a legacy franchise into a living cultural engine.
re-architecting a legacy franchise into a living cultural engine.
[THE.BRIEF] Air Max Day had become predictable. A one-day spike. A familiar drop. A loud moment with diminishing return. The challenge wasn’t relevance — Air Max was still winning.
The challenge was depth. Nike’s brief was implicit but urgent:
how do you evolve a 30+ year icon without flattening it? How does Air Max move beyond a calendar moment and reassert innovation — not just in product, but in culture?
The challenge was depth. Nike’s brief was implicit but urgent:
how do you evolve a 30+ year icon without flattening it? How does Air Max move beyond a calendar moment and reassert innovation — not just in product, but in culture?
[THE.INSIGHT] Icons don’t disappear. They stagnate. For a new generation, Air Max risked reading as fashion heritage rather than future signal. At the same time, Gen-Z’s definition of innovation had shifted — from objects to ideas, from drops to enablement.
The gap:
Air Max stood for visible innovation, but the most innovative energy was happening outside the brand — in creators, cities, and communities without access or infrastructure.
Air Max stood for visible innovation, but the most innovative energy was happening outside the brand — in creators, cities, and communities without access or infrastructure.
[THE.SYSTEM] ENGINE // LOOPS // CHECKPOINTS
Air Max was reframed as a system, not a campaign.
+Culture Loop — creators, cities, and communities as authors, not assets
+Product Loop — Air Max as proof of progress, not the headline
+Learning Loop — every cycle feeds the next; momentum compounds
Air Max Day evolved from a finale into a checkpoint.
An ignition moment that reveals progress and points forward — not backward.
+Product Loop — Air Max as proof of progress, not the headline
+Learning Loop — every cycle feeds the next; momentum compounds
Air Max Day evolved from a finale into a checkpoint.
An ignition moment that reveals progress and points forward — not backward.
Nike’s role shifted from narrator to enabler.
[STRATEGIC.ARCHITECTURE]
+reposition Air Max as a long-term cultural platform
+design guardrails, not prescriptions
+allow local expression without losing global coherence
+embed Air as infrastructure — visible, functional, human
+let execution flex while strategy holds
+design guardrails, not prescriptions
+allow local expression without losing global coherence
+embed Air as infrastructure — visible, functional, human
+let execution flex while strategy holds
The system was built to survive hand-offs, scale across partners, and evolve without rebooting.
[EXECUTION.CONTEXT] Final Air Max Accelerator execution and production were led by Nike in partnership with AKQA, following multi-agency collaboration.
The strategy framework informed how the program showed up in the world:
+creator-led acceleration over influencer amplification
+process documented, not polished
+cities treated as dialects, not replicas
+innovation framed as cultural output, not just footwear tech
+creator-led acceleration over influencer amplification
+process documented, not polished
+cities treated as dialects, not replicas
+innovation framed as cultural output, not just footwear tech
Campaign assets shown for contextual reference only.
[COMMUNITY.SIGNAL]
+Air Max reframed as a platform, not a drop
+creators elevated as co-authors of innovation
+cultural legitimacy earned through participation
+Air Max Day regained forward momentum
+system thinking enabled execution beyond a single agency
+Air Max reframed as a platform, not a drop
+creators elevated as co-authors of innovation
+cultural legitimacy earned through participation
+Air Max Day regained forward momentum
+system thinking enabled execution beyond a single agency
The work proved that restraint — not control — sustains icons.
[CLOSING.CODE] Air is not a product feature. It’s an engine. When icons evolve as systems,
culture doesn’t just consume them — it carries them forward.
culture doesn’t just consume them — it carries them forward.
AIR MAX.
IGNITION, NOT CULMINATION.
IGNITION, NOT CULMINATION.