CASE Study: Nike / Wieden+Kennedy

Understanding sport as personal identity

Working with Wieden+Kennedy and Nike in Japan, scenarioDNA used Culture Mapping to explore what sport was becoming for a new generation. The research connected emerging expressions of identity and style with a locally grounded creative framework.

The question: What does sport mean to young people in Japan?

Nike and Wieden+Kennedy needed to understand how a new generation was interpreting sport. The challenge was to understand emerging youth values and cultural nuance well enough to inform how Nike could communicate in Japan.

The research: Recognizing emerging expressions of sport

Our Culture Mapping revealed a shift from sport understood primarily through team discipline and performance toward individual expression, identity, and style. The finding opened a broader view of participation: sport could be a way for young people to express who they were as well as what they could achieve.

The application: Giving creative strategy a local foundation

We translated that cultural shift into a platform showing how Nike could speak to sport as personal expression. The work gave the team a creative framework grounded in emerging youth values, local nuance, and participation. It connected an interpretation of cultural change with a practical direction for brand communication.

Explore our approach: Culture Mapping · Cultural Research & Intelligence