Influencer marketing is a phenomenon of the Millennial generation that is taking over the consumer world, introducing new ways for companies to capture their audiences and engage with them.

With an excellent perception of what’s happening in the industry, Nike appointed independent creative agency HarrimanSteel to design a campaign for the launch of its new shoe, Nike Pegasus Turbo. For the influencer campaign, HarrimanSteel partnered with runner Coach Lee, who counts over 68,000 followers on Instagram and is widely respected in the running community. Lee has been documenting his fitness journey since 2010.

Despite the fact that more and more people seem to be tired of influencer posts, losing the credibility and the effectiveness they once had, Nike’s campaign with Lee has set itself apart by inviting people to take part in real conversations and events that don’t live in the digital world.

Leah Forsyth-Steel, managing director at HarrimanSteel, says, “Influencer marketing opens up all kinds of creative possibilities when you partner with the right people, and let their voice drive the campaign.”

As part of the campaign and preceding the World 100km Championship, where he will represent Great Britain, Lee will train with four runners and document the experience on social media.

In the lead up to the Nike Pegasus Turbo’s release, Lee provided the selected runners with a test pair. After receiving their pair, the runners were asked to share their opinion and review the shoes using the hashtag #intersporttestlab. In just a few days, #intersporttestlab gained 430,000 mentions on Instagram, reaching an overall of 1.3m, taking into account Twitter and Facebook.

Furthermore, at the Berlin Fast Lab, which took place at the end of the summer, Lee used the ‘Instagram Questions’ feature, encouraging people to ask him whatever they wanted.

Forsyth-Steel says, “Lee speaks in the language of runners, directly to runners; we wouldn’t dare tell him what to say. Our work involves creating a brand manifesto, and providing cues, but there is no script.”

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