The Air Jordan III is one of the most treasured shoes in basketball history. It’s the first Air Jordan model designed by Tinker Hatfield, the first Air Jordan with elephant print design, and the first Air Jordan with the “Jumpman” logo. For true sneaker heads, the “Cement” color ways are in a class by themselves. To celebrate the re-release of these AJ IIIs, Jordan created a campaign hyping how special these shoes still are.
MJ wore the Air Jordan IIIs during his breakout 1988 season. You know, the one where he took off from the free throw line during the dunk contest and won the first of five MVP awards. That season. Our story starts with MJ, expands to the shoes, and encapsulates all of the people who help make Jordan Brand elite.
This video launched the Air Jordan III campaign, serving as a potent reminder of the power these shoes hold. With paid support, the video topped 15 million views across all Jordan channels.
We created a series of micro videos to flesh out the story and hit key beats during the months-long campaign. With multiple shoes, we knew we needed fresh content following the hero to keep people engaged. Mission accomplished.
The AJ III was introduced to the public via a landmark TV campaign featuring Spike Lee, in character as Mars Blackmon. These commercials have woven their way into pop culture (“It’s gotta be the shoes!”), and we remixed those spots alongside archival MJ footage and brand new studio footage to tell the tale of the AJ III.
Tinker Hatfield is practically synonymous with Air Jordan, but that wasn’t always the case. Tinker’s first Jordan design was the AJ III, and he’s the one who introduced the elephant print to the masses. Thanks, Tinker.
Michael once stated that no player embodies his style of basketball more than Russell Westbrook. ’Nuff said.
Once people saw the main campaign videos, it was time to dive deeper down the funnel. These videos and stills were shot to support the individual products as sales drivers. The direction mirrors the original Air Jordan III ad campaign, featuring the same background, the same kicks, and the same white socks.
This video featuring product shots was created to drive sales in the Nike SNKRS app and in dark paid social posts leading up to the product launch.
All told, this campaign generated 25 million video views, 250k clickthroughs to Jordan e-commerce, and 100% sell-through of all core AJ III models.
ROLES
Video Director and Senior Copywriter - Michael Taylor
Art Direction - Gerald Jimenez
Additional Art and Copy - Mac and Nate
Editing - Emil Schönström
Strategy - Brennen Schlueter
Account Management - Cameron Clow
Photography - Everett Bouwer