“The designers behind this app know their audience well. Allowing them quick access to trick videos that can be run in slow-mo is a perfect complement to how skaters learn.” —juror Eric Karjaluoto
“This is one of the most innovative sports apps I’ve seen in a while. Social, useful, original and very well designed.” —juror Winston Binch
Overview:The Nike SB App provides skateboarders with a new tool to help them learn and experience the sport. Interactive videos allow users to view more than 600 tricks at varying speeds from multiple angles and playback directions. R/GA’s recently released technology gives users the ability to explore the precise movements and coordination involved from whichever angle they choose, and playback speed can be adjusted at any time. Once they learn the tricks, users can upload videos of themselves skateboarding to compete in pro-issued Nike SB challenges or even go head-to-head with any app user, worldwide, in a game of S.K.A.T.E.
• In its first four months, skaters uploaded more than 60,000 videos and played more than 10,000 games of S.K.A.T.E.
• During the launch event, 17,000 tweets were generated, and 178,000 skaters watched the YouTube live broadcast.
• The Nike SB App was launched as an iOS mobile app and is currently available to iPhone and iPod touch users.
Comments by R/GA:
What were the specific demands of the project? “Our audience uses social media religiously. They consume and create more content than their peers and rely on mobile for almost everything. It was clear, however, that the tools skaters use to get better and the material they learn from had failed to keep up with this advanced, connected consumer. Instructional videos continue to be limited in their ability to show the minutiae of a trick. Our proprietary shooting rig changed the game for Nike and the skateboarding community, allowing the capture of multiple angles and minute details of a trick in one pass.”
Are there any technical features you'd like to call attention to? “We fitted several cameras to a specially designed dolly that wrapped around the skateboard, and we used it to shoot pro skaters landing tricks. The footage is presented through our patented playback system, which allows users to view the action like never before, choosing between angles and manipulating playback direction and speed.”
Was the project part of a larger promotional campaign? “For the launch event, 28 of the world’s best skaters came together for 24 hours to land the 616 tricks in the app’s Trick Tree—the first ever taxonomy of almost every skateboarding trick ever attempted. The entire event was broadcast live on YouTube, and skaters around the world watched and tweeted the tricks they wanted to see performed by their favorite skater.”
