The Beginning of Digital Experiences Where Nike and Apple Intersected: NIKE+ Launch Promotion (2006)

Memories of the Workplace Vol. 13

This series is a collection of memories from the 'front lines' where I have stood for many years.
In an era of rapid change, I am writing these 'Memories of the Workplace' to concretely document the path I have taken—what kind of front lines I have stood on and what kind of enthusiasm I have helped create.
The temperature of light and sound, the expressions on people's faces, the weight of the air—I am recording the things that words alone cannot capture.

Nike+ iPod: Where Music and Running Connected

Autumn 2006.

Two years before the iPhone arrived in Japan.
Back when smartphones and social media were not yet commonplace.

Listening to music and
running were connected by 'data' for the first time.

What we held in our hands back then was,
what seems quite primitive now, an 'iPod nano' and
a small wireless sensor.

We embedded it into Nike shoes,
and every time we ran, music and data would link up.

That simple act was still a 'future event' at the time.

The Day Nike and Apple Joined Forces

Nike and Apple—.

Just seeing these two logos side-by-side changed the atmosphere of the venue.

'Sports and technology',
'Body and design',
'Athletes and musicians'.

Brands that symbolize their respective worlds
were, for the first time, trying to create a single experience.

The iPod nano, the Nike+ shoes,
and a small chip called a 'sensor'.

When you ran, the data was transferred to the iPod,
and your running records were uploaded to 'nikeplus.com'.

The prototype for today's Apple Watch and smart shoes.
That first step was this 'Nike+ iPod'.

The brief that arrived from Nike Japan contained these words:

This sentence was the starting point for everything.

It wasn't just a product launch;
our job was to show how to create an 'experience' that multiplied the values of one brand with another.

A 'digital relay' connecting four venues

There were two venues each in Tokyo and Osaka.

In Tokyo, they were the special stage in front of Shibuya Marui and the Apple Store Shibuya.
In Osaka, they were Nike Osaka and the Apple Store Shinsaibashi.

Web cameras were installed at these four locations,
connected via ISDN lines, and broadcast simultaneously on monitors.

There was a running machine on the stage.

Data from the runner on the treadmill was
projected onto the screen in real-time,
and those figures were linked with the other venues.

Runners in Tokyo and Osaka competed to see
“who could run the greater distance.”

It was a setup that felt like an online marathon.

The MC in Shibuya shouted,
“Can we reach a total of 200 kilometers across all four venues?”

Appearing on the large screen was the figure of a runner in Shinsaibashi.
The distance display on the iPod screen, the runner's expression, and the applause of the audience.

Each of these elements was connected by digital lines,
and just as the name “Nike+” suggests, a “plus” bond was being created.

Looking back now, this relay system itself
was a prototype for the next era,
the “fusion of the internet and reality.”

Shibuya Marui, street-corner running stage

When I look back at the site blueprints,
the heat of that space comes back to me.

The stage, the monitor wall,
the main treadmill, the reception counter...

It was laid out against the backdrop of the Shibuya Marui glass facade,
so that people walking by would stop in their tracks.

The MC raised their voice.
“The item that will change your run, Nike+!”

Beside them, a runner broke a sweat,
and the “distance” was etched onto the iPod screen.
The monitor showed footage from Osaka.

When the audience in Shibuya learned that the runner in Shinsaibashi had been running for 15 minutes,
a buzz went through the crowd.
Voices naturally arose saying, “Alright, let's overtake them!”

Dusk in Shibuya.
The wind blew through the valley of buildings,
and the audio from the iPod flowed through the speakers into the venue as well.

Running while listening to your favorite music.
And having the distance and time conveyed to you by voice.

When you feel like you're about to collapse, or when things get tough,
the “power song” you set in advance spurs the runner on.

What song would you set as your power song?

The 200km goal — Cheers born from data

Past evening, a single number appeared on the screens connecting the four venues.
It read,
“198.7km”.

Almost at 200 kilometers.
That number flickered as if it were alive,
and cheers from each venue began to overlap.

The MC raises their voice.
“At this rate, we can make it to 200 kilometers!”

In front of Marui in Shibuya, the final runner was
stomping their feet on the treadmill.
The screen behind them showed the Nike Store in Shinsaibashi, Osaka,
and the Apple Stores in Shibuya and Shinsaibashi. Crowds had formed at every venue.

The numbers ticking on the iPod screen.
The runner's heart rate.
The audience's applause.
All of these were synchronizing as data.

The MC shouts.
“200 kilometers, achieved!”

In that instant, applause and cheers erupted at the Marui venue,
and the runners in Osaka, looking frustrated, were shown on screen.

Cheers connected by data.

It was truly “the moment digital technology extended the human body.”

At the end of the day, the message displayed on the screen was,
“Tune your run.” — Tune your own run.

It was a simple message for the future,
presented jointly by Nike and Apple.

The day technology hit the streets

Looking back at this 2006 event,
we didn't even know the word “smartphone” yet.

Data was synced via USB,
and runners ran with wired earphones in their ears.

Even so, in Shibuya that day,
there was a heat as if technology had leaped out into the city.

The internet was still something that existed inside a PC.
For the first time, that “world of the net”
was connected to human bodies and the city landscape.
That was the experiment called “Nike+ iPod.”

On this day, it wasn't just the runners who ran.
Nike, Apple,
and we, the creators, also
took a step toward the direction of “the experience to come.”

As a memory of work

Shibuya Marui at night.

The event had ended,
and in the venue where the lights had gone out,
only the glow of the monitors remained.

On the treadmill,
the small screen of the iPod was still on.

What was displayed there was the data of the last runner.
It was just a number of a few kilometers,
but it felt like proof of a day's worth of effort.

Back then, the word "experience" wasn't as widespread as it is now.
But looking back, I think the Nike+ iPod event
was truly an attempt at "creating an experience."

How to present technology,
how to connect it to human senses—
that was always what I was thinking about
while on-site.

I never imagined a time would come like today, where everyone can see data in the palm of their hand
and visualize their running.
However, in that autumn of 2006,
we were certainly standing at "the entrance" to that.

If you feel like you are
stuck without a solid plan or script,
I have summarized my approach in the article below.→

“For those who are stuck without a solid plan or script”

Thank you for reading until the end.

I am preserving these small "memories of the field"
born at the intersection of light and sound.
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