To celebrate athlete ambassador Giannis Antetokounmpo’s rise to the NBA elite and his MVP award, Nike released a Giannis signature shoe campaign that featured a basketball hoop planted at the summit of Mount Olympus.
The sportswear behomoth’s shoe launch for the star – nicknamed the ‘Greek Freak’ – marks the first time that Nike has created a signature sneaker for a European player.
The campaign, created by long-time Nike creative agency Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, was set on the highest point in Greece (and the ancient home of the Greek Gods) because Greek born Antetokounmpo was brought up in the poor suburbs of Athens and reached the top of the NBA through hard work, desire, talent and a ‘crazy dream’.
By putting the hoop at the highest point in his home country, Nike’s commercial aims to represent the incredible journey the player has been on.
The work aims to inspire kids around the world that no matter where you start, you can reach anywhere you can dream of and the copy line of the mountaintop backboard reads: “Fate can start you at the bottom. Dreams can take you to the top.”
The brand and agency felt that it was important that consumers knew that the initiative was authentic and genuine, so the campaign captured behind the scenes content of the team bringing the hoop up to the top and putting it up in crazy conditions – with the weather changing every thirty minutes between sun, clouds, rain and hail.
Nike and its agency were keen to emphasise that the special hoop did not have to be drilled into the mountain and that no damage was done to the sacred site’s environment.
The hero film was followed up by a 5-part ‘I am Giannis’ online video bio series charting his life story thus far.
The Mount Olympus campaign was created by Nike Director Brand Experience (EMEA) Phil Jacobson and Brand Manager (EMEA) Eric Nelson by a Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam team that included Executive Creative Directors Eric Quennoy and Mark Bernath, Creative Directors Craig Williams and Evegeny Primachenko, Art Director Jeff Lam, Copywriters Alex Bower and Tim Coleman, Head of Broadcast Production Joe Togneri, Broadcast Producer Eline de Roo, Group Account Director Kathryn Addo, Account Director Franky Wardell, Account Manager Fulvio Itagiba, Head of Planning Martin Weigel, Head of Comms and Digital Strategy Danielle Pak and Head of Design Joe Burrin.
The Studio Director was Lizzie Murray, the Motion Designers were Gustav von Platen and Marco van der Vlag, the Studio Artist Noa Redero, the Project Manager Caroline Kosse, with business affairs handled by Michael Graves.
The film production company was Yard, the spearhead spot was helmed by Quentin van den Bossche and the production team included Director of Photography Tassos Fitros, Producers George Tsitsas and Eleni Grigoraskou and Executive Producer Dimitris Alexopoulos, plus Editor Hiro Ikematsu.
Post was handled by Wave Studios, the Sound Designer/Mixer was Alex Nicholls‑Lee, with music from Hiro Ikematsu, post production from Glassworks, with Flame Kyle Obley and Blake Huber, 3D by Callum Austin, the Colorist was Scott Harris and the Producer was Dave Moore.
Comment:
This Giannis campaign follows on from Nike creative rolled out in the previous week which began with ‘Birthplace Of Dreams’ ahead of the NBA Season Awards
which itself was followed by a low latency response spot called simply ‘MVP’ which rolled out immediately after his MVP win was announced.
As the NBA moves through the gears in its global expansion strategy, its partners such as Nike are also increasingly investing in overseas basketball markets with work ranging from China (see our ‘Road To HBL‘ and ‘Zhou Qi’ case studies) to this more European focused initiative.
Links:
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Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam
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