Working with China + Nike + RZA + Kobe

I must sincerely apologize to the readers of this blog. For over 11 months I had not updated a single entry on this blog dating back at the end of September 2007. During that time I was trying not to jinx myself because I was preparing for a life altering experience working abroad in China. For all of October and November I studied the Chinese market, I learned about Chinese history and I desperately was trying to figure out the Chinese language, the culture and all of the do’s and don’ts in China.

Because the 2008 Olympics are hosted in China, Nike saw an opportunity to capitalize on an initiative to increase Chinese youth awareness in sports. Nike wantsto be the catalyst for a new generation of Chinese by using television, the web and offline events to rally China’s competitive athletic spirit.

On December 13, 2007, I was flown to Shanghai, China to work on a 6 month project addressing this Nike ambition. I was recruited by W+K (Wieden+Kennedy) to help develop an online strategy and to produce video for the first stage of an ongoing national Nike+China campaign. The campaign was centered around NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and 400 boys from all over China. It was a 6 part reality television series, where 24 out of the 400 boys were selected to go to America to train with US coaches and Kobe. Out of the 24 boys 16 were selected to go to Beijing to play in a championship game.

This groundbreaking national campaign aired all over China on CCTV (China Central Television). The project was an enormous undertaking and when the dust settled I had done the following: I helped to port Kobe’s likeness and the campaigns branding to an established video game. I helped to design and provide strategy for the Kobe website. I had edited 90+ videos out of the 200+ total videos hosted on all the Nike Branded properties. Most importantly I drafted the original strategy blueprint to a Nike branded basketball social network, titled the Ballers Network.

Ok back to my apology… I wanted my audience to be aware that I spent a sum of 8 months in China and China has a habit of blocking websites like Wikipedia, Youtube, Wordpress and Godaddy. As a result I could not access this blog which is hosted on my Godaddy server. Though I was devastated for the first few months I found it to be a minuscule price to pay for a life altering experience. I mean how many people can actually say they helped craft an online/offline social network for Nike? Again how many westerners can say they worked on an initiative to spark a national sports movement in China using both traditional and grassroots media?

- Bendrix

Bendrix is founder and Digital Media Strategist for Codedsignal, a portable media network: Hip Hop, Electronica, Digital Media Tips, Travel

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