On January 14th, 2010 Nike Sportswear released True City, an iPhone application that provides users with a unique insight into six European cities, making the hidden visible through the knowledge and insight of Nike Insiders—local tastemakers who pride themselves on being at the forefront of things happenings in their cities.
As Nike states: “True City is not just another digital guidebook application. Itʼs a powerful combination of premium, geo-tagged content, the latest iPhone technologies, and social media integration—updated in real-time by real people. All with Nikeʼs unmistakable irreverence.”
In Amsterdam Nalden was selected to be the frontrunner for spotting new spots and trends in the city. Or, in other words, discovering the ‘true city’. By using crowdsourcing to fill in the city-information on sports, clubs, restaurants and other spots Nike tries to stay close to the trendsetting crowd. The fact that a strong brand like Nike keeps investing in branding shows what the impact of new & social media is on marketing paradigms.
This is a good example how new-media convergence of social, interaction and mobile is entering the marketplace. Now lets see which secrets True City is going to give us!
