Why Nike is busy world building for its ACG brand

Nike is going all in on its ACG brand at a time when luxury and utility are becoming synonymous.

Nike’s relaunch of its outdoor performance label ACG is doing the thing every creative strategist has talked about for years, turning “getting outside” into brand infrastructure.

Two memorable bits of content have landed recently, with little care that a certain American Football final might distract from the festivities. A dramatic ad for ACG, developed in partnership with Wieden + Kennedy Portland, asserts the brand’s dedication to trail running, hiking and outdoor exploration.

This was followed up with an experiential activation by ACG in the form of the Milan–Orobic Alps train basecamp: a fully kitted carriage that physically carries creators and consumers into the mountains, reframing activation as a service rather than a spectacle.

Our take

As our piece on Burberry’s campaign over Christmas pointed out: “Nowadays, utility and refinement have replaced lavish statements as the low-key flex of choice. ‘High status individuals’ are just as likely to wear brands like Patagonia and North Face as they are Prada because the quality of the products reflects a sense of purpose, and speaks to a life outside of comfortable suburbia.”

Nike’s ACG is well placed to get in on a bit of the action here, and the company has done well to focus on long-term brand building, combining aspirational messaging focused around utility, with practical ways to interact with the brand.

Culturally, the timing is sharp. ACG, like brands as wide-ranging as Apple and North Face, have tapped into our recoil from endless screen‑time, selling the outdoors as a way to feel something again rather than a backdrop for content.

ACG’s re‑entry into performance outdoors is ambitious and has the care and attention of some of Nike’s best recent work. Like this one, for example: