Nike dropped a tribute commercial to the late Kobe Bryant on 23 August to mark what would have been his 42nd birthday and to launch to start of ‘Mamba Week’.
The 90-second spot, honours Bryant by urging all viewers to be ‘Better’ not only as athletes, but also as people.
The video is narrated by musician Kendrick Lamar and features footage of Black Lives Matter protests as well as other scenes in the fight against racism, alongside film of Nike athlete ambassadors who have spoken up about social justice such as Megan Rapinoe, plus WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird.
The narration says “Kobe taught us to be better. A better scorer, better mentor, better father, better champion. Today, on his birthday, we continue his endless pursuit of better” and states that Bryant’s #MambaMentality continues to inspire a diverse set of (Nike endorser) athletes including Serena Williams, Anthony Davis, Sydney Leroux and Sky Brown.
The campaign was created by Wieden+Kennedy Portland and helmed by Melina Matsoukas of Prettybird.
Outcome:
The spot notched up 14m Twitter views, 10m YouTube views and 2m Instagram views in the first 24 hours since it was posted on 23 August.
Comment:
In addition to the hero ad, Nike is hosting a series of Mamba Week events and marketing initiatives (including further videos featuring Mamba Mentors sports stars and workout challenges) as well as the launch of its first pair of Bryant signature sneakers and jerseys since his death.
To kick off Mamba Week, we asked our athletes to tell us how Kobe’s passion inspired them to be better. #MambaMentality@DianaTaurasi, @jewellloyd, @sydneyleroux, @skyandocean_, @sabrina_i20, @DevinBook, @NaomiOsaka, @AntDavis23 pic.twitter.com/NPH2rJGra4
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) August 23, 2020
Links:
Nike
https://www.nike.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/nike
https://www.instagram.com/nike/
https://twitter.com/nike
https://www.facebook.com/nike
Wieden+Kennedy Portland
https://www.wk.com/about/office/portland/
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