Nike launched a new global football campaign during Saturday’s Champions League Final revolving around ‘next generation’.
But this initiative sees the brand focus not only on the new wave of footballers taking the main stage, but also on the next generation of communication technology.
The ‘My Time is Now’ initiative is spearheaded by video that is very much ‘sit forward and engage’ rather than ‘sit back and watch’.
The film may have made its TV debut during UEFA’s footballing showpiece, but it is in its online guise that it really comes in to its own. It made its debut on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and nikefootball.com and is being supported by an interactive video that invites viewers to unlock additional content through secret portals.
This is a multi-layered, interactive spot which enables viewers to search through the film for its hidden layers and links. The story continues to evolve and unfold online and invites viewers to search for the hidden tunnels. These range from more information about players and matches, to following Nike stars on their Twitter feeds and clicking in to Nike product information websites and purchasing platforms. And from all of these the viewer can just click back into the main advert at any time.
The creative focuses on the new generation of footballers who are coming in to their own and started to dominate sports greatest stage.
From Brazil’s new wonder-kid, the Santos star Neymar, to Mesut Ozil, Javier Hernandez and Danny Wellbeck – the emphasis is on youth.
Sure, the work also features more established Nike football ambassadors such as Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona’s Andreas Iniesta and Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder (as well as a cameo from basketball super star LeBron James), the focus is on capturing the energetic enthusiasm of soccer’s next generation of youthful stars.
The launch timing sees Nike leverage UEFA’s showpiece club match, which also happens to be the world’s most watched annual sporting event, and also acts as a teaser in the build up to this year’s biggest international competition Euro 2012.
So, with one swift blow, Nike ambushes two UEFA events where rival adidas is the official partner.
The film begins with a Euro 2012 clash between France and the Netherlands, but soon the stadium is overrun with an epic hoard of young players looking to make their mark on the world game and prove they have the skills and hunger to take on the established stars.
Also front and centre of the work is the brand’s new vibrant and colourful boot range – the Nike Clash Collection – which go on sale before the Euro’s kick off on 6 June.
‘My Time is Now’ is also supported by digital, out-of-home and print activity.
This campaign also dovetails with Nike’s ‘The Chance’ global young talent search for the best upcoming players. This sees the brand-backed project travel through 55 countries between May and August seeking out the best 100 unsigned young players who will then play in global initiative finals event at Barcelona’s youth academy.
At stake for the top 16 players is a place on a unique ‘training tour’ through leading club football academies, including Manchester United and Juventus, as well as the US Youth National team.
One player will also win a single place at the Nike Academy – a scheme which is now in its second season and runs in partnership with the Premier League.
Comment:
Nike seldom makes simple TV ads for major sporting events. Instead its creative ambition is to create multi-layered pop culture classics.
My Time Is Now certainly achieves the former and only time will tell if it achieves to latter too.
Like its fantastic ‘Write The Future’ work for the 2012 World Cup, this is a complex campaign that aims to generate multiple views in order to find new details and explore the full breadth and depth of the story-telling.
While many brands have previously created their own YouTube channels with several individual videos within one campaign, Nike has embedded multiple creative silos within one rabbit hole film.
Early data suggests it is generated a wave of consumer intrigue and interest. In the week of its launch it was the most shared viral on the web with 585,286 shares. It has been watched more than 12.5 million times to date.
The launch platform for the campaign confirms the Champions League Final’s status as perhaps the biggest platform for advertisers (both in Europe and beyond) to launch flagship new campaigns.
While its too early for global viewing data, early UK figures show this year’s game peaking at 10.6 million viewers on ITV – a 43% share of that evening’s audience.
And while official UEFA sponsors, like Ford, Heineken and MasterCard topped and tailed many of the ad breaks, that didn’t stop Nike getting in on the cat too (or Carlsberg, Rockstar’s ‘Max Payne 3’, Samsung, Strongbow, Pepsi Max, Apple iPhone, Sky, Vodafone and VW).
ITV themselves used the occasion to launch its own 120-second extended version of the broadcaster’s ‘It’s Good to Dream’ promo for its Euro 2012 championships in Ukraine and Poland.
The promo by ITV’s in-house creative team, ITV Creative, recreates some of England’s most agonising football failures since 1966, including ITV pundit Gareth Southgate’s 1996 penalty.
Which is less a case of ‘Write The Future’ and more case of ‘Rewrite The Past’.
Links:
http://www.youtube.com/nikefootball
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