What it is
The program put NBA team identity on a customizable Air Force 1. The consumer chose a team, then a black or white base and a tongue logo. A second version opened the low and the high to team colors, with choices on the upper, the accents, the midsole and the outsole.
An NBA pack on the Air Force 1 for 30 teams was on the roadmap when Khounlavong started in July 2017. A basketball plan dated July 19, 2017 lays out six steps across the season, from a white and black launch pack to a city pack. He was part of the team that developed the concept from there, turned it into a dated program and launched it.
What Khounlavong did
- Set the program as three flows in the holiday 2017 story flow, updated August 16, 2017. Flow one was black and white, September 29 to October 17. Flow two was team colors, from October 17. Flow three was Black Friday, November 24. The later dates were marked as still to be confirmed.
- Mapped the consumer journey in a one-page plan dated September 21, 2017. It covered the global launch of the white and black shoe, the global team color launch on Nike.com, a black shoe reached through the connected NBA jersey, and a Black Friday release for North America in the Nike app.
- Built a launch calendar for holiday 2017 through spring 2018, marked work in progress on October 27, 2017. It carried seven drops, each with a launch date, a date to come off the site, a price and a demand forecast. The forecast for the full calendar was $4.1M.
- Placed the Black Friday flow in the Nike+ member shop as an Air Force 1 High for seven teams, with 1,500 units for North America, built to order.
- Carried the program into the city pack and the Los Angeles shoe for spring 2018, which are covered on their own page.
- Programmed a second year. The holiday 2018 line plan, dated January 29, 2018, carried an NBA Courtside Air Force 1 in high and low, for men and women.
- Flagged that second year as a risk in the holiday 2018 financial plan. Two models had to match what three had done the year before, and the plan put $210K at risk.
- Named the Basketball category relationship as a gap. His November 2017 functional summary asked leadership for help building it. His fiscal 2019 to 2021 plan set consistent meetings with Basketball as a priority.
Results
- $1.3M in total demand in fiscal 2018, recorded in his official Nike year-end review under must-win projects.
- Listed as "AF1 by NBA" in the Nike By You strategy update of August 2018, among the launches that drove new momentum in fiscal 2018.
At a glance
| Project type | Seasonal product program and launch |
|---|---|
| Industry | Athletic footwear, digital customization |
| Seat | Senior Merchandising Director, Nike By You (Global) |
| Ran through | Nike |
| Dates | July 2017 to January 2018, with a second year planned for holiday 2018 |
| Related pages | Jimmy Khounlavong, Nike By You: a rebrand executed mid-flight, NBA Hyperlocal and All the Stars of LA |
| Principal | Jimmy Khounlavong |