Engagement comes from manipulating existing environments, surprising your audience, giving a sense of ownership… not technology du jour.GRID fused media channels: old with new, real-world with digital.

Historically, phoneboxes would’ve raised awareness using exterior-wraps; inside was reserved for call-girls. For GRID they became entry/exit points for the game, with an interactive phone-system, and branded-content inside and out.

Players ran between 200 near-redundant phoneboxes, across London. GRID was probably their first time inside one! The 48 postcodes tapped into a sense of identity. Participation was laddered from individual to team, ultimately representing North/South/East/West.Nikegrid.com registered players, but Facebook.com/NikeGrid was the nerve-centre. Nike conversed with players, delivering real-time updates heightening game-play. Individuals shared tactics, following online and digital OOH leaderboards, and data-visualisation films.Players were motivated by points, occasionally prizes, but predominantly fame. Postcode winners were celebrated on phoneboxes as “Crownholders”. Badges and profile pictures on Facebook are testament to achievements.

GRID was sustained by a core, engaged community of 5,000 fans (74% 17-22 vs. 1% of Asics’ 2009 “Run to the Beat” demographic). They made the game their own, sharing tactics every 6 minutes on Facebook – 30% receiving replies from other players.

On average, 12 minutes was spent on Nike’s GRID sites.During the games, players logged more than one run per minute. Some logged 40+ runs a day; 9 ran every single phonebox across 48 postcodes!Nike’s brand tracker scores rose: “Innovation” +11pts. “Cool Brand” +3pts.

The community didn’t just run London. They ran halfway round the Earth: 12,500 miles.