Award shows are relevant, dammit! Volume 2

Last night, R/GA took home the top prize, "The Grandy" (and a championship ring) at the International Andy Awards. The winning piece--in the pool with the Skittles TV campaign (TBWA\NY) and the Safe Happens Integrated campaign (CP+B)-- was NikePlus.

This is HUGE people.

The Andy's Jury recognized that this is the next step in advertising--collaboration. I've been preaching it since I started reading Wikinomics--but collaboration and community are where it's at.
R/GA and Nike developed this product together. From the beginning. It's not like Nike delivered some shoes with iPods and said "hey sell this." No, they sat down--agency and client--and built a product around an idea, from the ground up, together. And the results were amazing. As for community, the premise of the whole product was built around community. You upload your runs, and view other runners stats, share routes, have time races, and support of all kinds. From the shoes, to the iPod that tells you how you're doing, to the website and widgets that you use to keep track, to the other users who become your friends supporters, you live with this product. Its compelling content at its finest.