Discovering the Next Grey Space for Nike

Client: Nike

Role: Creative Brand Manager and Strategist

Nike captured lighting in a bottle with their partnerships and involvements with Michael Jordan and Virgil Abloh — but what actually made both of these figures, and their brands, successful?

They represented the Grey Space.

It all started with Michael Jordan and Spike Lee.

Culture merged with Subculture.

Mainstream and Underground.

The Grey Space

The Stats

At the same time of the rise of social media and the birth of the algorithm, consumers began looking to people, rather than brands, to identify cultural relevance.

Over 1/2 of survey respondents agree that they admire people more than brands.