As the Autumn (Fall) marathon season starts in the USA, Nike Running has launched a new campaign celebrating simply the athlete who is last to cross the line, but to champion the imperfect journey of each and every runner.
Led by an uplifting TV spot called ‘Last’, launched on 25 September, the brand is championing runners of all abilities and their own personal challenges: after all ‘anyone can be a runner; all you have to do is run’.
When this Nike running ad begins, the winner of a marathon has already crossed the finish line and perhaps most of the competitors are donning their shiny metallic heat capes and heading off to brunch for a post-race celebration. But you see none of that, as the camera lingers on the race route, following those tenacious last few runners struggling to make it to the goal line.
The commercial opens with a slow, long, continuous shot trailing that last rag-tag runners struggling towards the finish line, while a marathon cleaning crew sweeps up the race detritus spread along the route and the sun starts to set.
The film is set to the sound of an Aretha Franklin cover of Brenda Holloway and Ed Cobb’s soulful ’Every Little Bit Hurts’, while a voiceover outlines the history of the first marathon in ancient Greece and hails the runners’ gruelling, yet triumphant journey:
The message behind this campaign is that while history may champion the winner, Nike wants to recognize those who race for pride and for their own personal goals.
And the call-to-action is that runners can take on their very own challenges through Nike+ Run Club (NRC).
NRC is a running support platform: offering access to physical and digital running sessions, in-store services, personal coaching and a motivating community.
The spot was directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures and the campaign was developed with long-term agency Wieden + Kennedy Portland.
This is the same creative partnership behind Nike’s award winning ‘Jogger’ as from 2012 and ‘Last’ acts as something of a sequel to that campaign.
Comment
It’s certainly unusual for a Nike ad to celebrate losing.
After all, this is the brand that pioneered the ‘winning is everything, second is nowhere’ school of athletic achievement.
Yet, typical Nike creative style, the viewer can feel the aching limbs, the exhaustion and the grim determination and personal commitment.
And with a quarter of a million YouTube views in its first two days, it seems everyone likes a loser.
From Berlin (27 September) through Chicago (11 October), and from New York City (1 November) to Seattle (29 November), the next few months will sees many thousands of runners – of all ages, sizes, and abilities – test themselves against 26.2 miles.
Links
Nike Running:
Nike Running Website:
http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/running?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F
Nike Running App:
http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/running/nikeplus/gps-app
Nike Running Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NikeRunning
Nike Running Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/nikerunning
Nike Running Instagram:
https://instagram.com/nikerunning/
W++K Portland:
https://www.wk.com/work/from/portland
Park Pictures:
