Nike’s sub-brand Jordan activated around its first ever football deal with French super team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) with an integrated, fashion-focused campaign – led by a video series, influencers and a goodie box giveaway – that aims to position the club as the world’s trendiest team.
The new tie-up, which marks the first time that the famous Jumpman logo will appear on a European football club shirt, not only sees the brand produce the team’s Champions League home and away kits but also launch an exclusive and extensive collection of more than 90 performance, training, and lifestyle products.
After a series of summer star stunts and social hints, the official relationship was unveiled in mid September with a (moodily-lit concrete mock-up sports pitch catwalk) PR event at Parc des Princes – complete with freestylers and dancers performing football and basketball tricks to a hip hop soundtrack – that saw PSG and Air Jordan announced a ‘pioneering’ three-year partnership that not only sees the players wear Jordan kits in this season’s Champions League
Star players Kylian Mbappe and Dani Alves appeared in the new kit shrouded in smoke and flanked by women’s team stars Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Shuang Wang, plus Jordan designer Aleali May, rappers Wale and Fabolous, and French dance duo Les Twins.
The PR launch event was followed up by a hero spot,
which in turn was supported by a set of multi-language films, including a ‘Making Of’ video,
and a series of player interviews,
and a ‘Training Film’,
as well as a more direct Shop Spot’.
Plus, to celebrate and amplify the new tie-up, more than 100 limited edition exclusive boxes were delivered to a set of PSG’s most influential stars and supporters: including players Mbappe, Katoto, Alves and Shuang, plus stylist May and dancers and musicians too.
“The collaboration between Paris Saint-Germain and Jordan underlines the ambition of both brands to combine performance, innovation and style. It is a logical next step in our project to make Paris Saint-Germain one of the biggest global sports brands, capitalising on the avant-garde approach of our Parisian roots,” commented PSG CEO and Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
“This partnership builds on our long-term association with Nike and will enable us to reach new audiences as well as offering our loyal fans around the world the most stylish club merchandise”.
While Michael Jordan himself added: “Jordan Brand and Paris Saint-Germain share a distinct position in sport and style, so to partner with the club is a natural fit. We’re excited to unite these two passionate communities by putting the Jumpman on the chest of Paris Saint-Germain to continue fuelling the energy for sport and style globally.”
Parent brand Nike retains the anchor role as the club’s primary, long-term kit manufacturer.
Comment:
Should we start looking to the catwalks and the music charts for future clues about what Paris Saint-Germain’s kits for next season will look like?
Footballers and football clubs are increasingly crossing over into the wider world of fashion and entertainment and this approach leverages the trend and this tie-up is part of PSG’s current culture play.
It is an obvious tactic for a Paris based organisation to seek to grow its global image by becoming more of a fashion-focused lifestyle brand to capitalise on the city’s global reputation as a cultural capital and a centre of style.
The approach PSG and Jordan ate taking to their tie-up aims to help the club engage with an audience who don’t traditionally follow football, but will connect to this kind of project.
Indeed, as well as the PSG x Jordan collaboration, the club has recently linked up with the likes of Christelle Kocher and the Rolling Stones (a collaboration linked to the the band’s three Paris performances on the No Filter tour that will see clothes and accessories, including PSG shirts with the Stones’ iconic lips logo on the back, sold at Paris’s trendy concept boutique Colette), while musicians such as Beyonce and Rita Ora have also recently been spotted wearing PSG clothing pieces.
@RitaOra with her @PSG_Inside x KOCHÉ ensemble! pic.twitter.com/ooulbb8Zqh
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 9, 2018
In fact, fashion/sports/music fans may have noticed Justin Timberlake take the stage for a concert in Paris earlier in the summer wearing a giant black jacket with a huge PSG x Jumpman logo on the back, followed in late August by rapper Travis Scott sporting a PSG x Air Jordan basketball jersey at the Cabaret Vert Festival in north-eastern France.
Justin Timberlake x PSG x Jordanpic.twitter.com/MOdH50N9jJ
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 24, 2018
The Jordan brand has been wworking to bridge the sportswear and street fashion gap for several years now. Indeed, the PSG deal came hot-on-the-heel of another notable Jordan Brand first when, earlier in the summer, the Nike imprint partnered with Anna Wintour and Vogue on a limited-edition collection of women’s-only sneakers.
These twin moves suggest an additional, new path for the Chicago Bulls iconic star’s own Nike partner brand – as well as its heartland and innovative basketball work (see case study) and expansion into China (see case study).
As basketball and hoops marketing continues to evolve into the wider cultural space, it simultaneously is linking to other sports like football too – consider adidas’ recent basketball jersey launches for its four heavyweight clubs Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Links:
PSG
https://www.youtube.com/user/PSGofficiel
https://www.instagram.com/psgofficiel/
https://twitter.com/PSG_inside
Jordan
https://www.youtube.com/user/jumpman23
https://www.instagram.com/jumpman23/
https://www.facebook.com/jumpman23
https://www.youtube.com/user/jumpman23
