To kick off its Winter range #GetOutHere initiative, Nike Training assembled 21 of its biggest stars for a game of icy football for a fun-filled ‘Snow Day’ commercial.
The two-minute spot is fronted by Nike ambassadors Rob Gronkowski (New England Patriots) and Ndamukong Suh (Miami Dolphins): two NFL stars who each lead a team of athlete endorsers which facing off for a fun, yet ferociously competitive game of tackle football.
Complete with all the winter trappings (fake snow, snowballs, snowmen…) the ad takes a positive, upbeat approach to the cold and urges viewers to get outside and play no matter how harsh the weather.
The other athletes from Nike’s US ambassador stable who appear in the commercial include New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr, USA women’s national team player Carli Lloyd, , plus LeSean McCoy, Luke Kuechly, Ben Roethlisberger, Paul George, Paula Findlay, Antonio Brown, Marlen Esparza, Eric Weddle, Lauren Fisher, Marcus Mariota, Sydney Leroux, Le’Veon Bell, Draymond Green, Eugenie Bouchard, Steven Stamkos, Elena Delle Donne and A. J. Green.
The work is amplified across all the usual Nike channels,
Roads are closed. School is cancelled. #getouthere
Gear up at https://t.co/PckL9rPdPn
https://t.co/1SVkizE91p
— Nike (@Nike) October 29, 2015
as well as via a fun, behind-the-scenes online video that sees the athletes fool around and share their own favourite snow-day memories.
If fact, the ad debuted on 29 October on Nike’s digital channels and then appropriately first aired on TV during the Thursday Night Football game between Gronk’s Patriots and Suh’s Dolphins (in the real NFL match-up Gronk’s team triumphed comfortably).
Nike, in harness with agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland, aims to capture the chaotic fun of blizzard conditions that shut down schools and offices, close the roads and turn the streets into an icy white playground.
The message is simple – there’s nothing quite like a snow day.
The spot, which aims to inspire and encourage by blending fun frolics with a consumer challange, was directed by Steve Rogers of Biscuit Filmworks.
The spot spearheads the brand’s wider winter #GetOutHere campaign: which aims to persuade consumers not let cold weather keep them from being active and to sell new Nike Training winter range products including the Nike Therma-Sphere Max and AeroReact.
Another interesting aspect of #GetOutHere sees the brand, for the first time, programme Nike.com to allow consumers to filter product searches by specific weather conditions such as ‘Freezing’, ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’ and ‘Dark’.
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Whether its the sense of fun, the inspirational approach or the neat match-up of the lead ambassadors and the initial game for the TV rollout, the spot has gained plenty of attention.
It’s online traction and engagement has been impressive with 1,495,381 YouTube views in its first 24 hours.
Plus, thankfully, it avoided the temptation to use the most overused line of the season ‘Winter Is Coming’.
It almost makes you wish winter would hurry along.
Almost!
For further insights into how the major sportswear brands activate around winter, see our 2014 ‘Big 3 Sports Brands > Winter Range Strategies‘ briefing report.
Links
Nike YouTube:
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Nike Website:
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Nike Facebook:
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Nike Google+:
W++K Portland:
