Nike Mash-up Combines Run London with Google Maps

Nike has brought out the latest Google Maps mash-up on its Run London Web site, encouraging running enthusiasts to plot their routes and search the favorite runs of other Londoners.

The RouteFinder application, courtesy of AKQA, is designed to engage London joggers who took place in the Nike-sponsored 10K run in October 2005. Site users can search other people’s runs by postcode, distance, or type of run; create a new run by clicking various points on the map; or save a list of their preferred routes.

The site was beta tested by four hundred fifty people who joined in the three runs Nike has put on so far.

The agency has also completed some new television spots for Nike, in which the client’s shoes are represented as various vehicles.

Mapping functions, particularly those from Google Maps, have appeared in a growing number of marketing applications. To promote the new season of The Sopranos, interactive agency Deep Focus recently charted key scenes from the show’s previous seasons on a map of New Jersey. Visitors can click icons on the map to view video excerpts of scenes that took place in those locations.