Nike’s Jumpman23 Jordan brand’s latest basketball athlete ambassador, Guo Ailun, doesn’t play in the NBA but rather in China’s local CBA league
An athlete acquisition that marks the 20th anniversary of the brand’s entry into the greater China marketplace.
Guo Ailun, a star of the Lioning Flying Leopards team and a member of China’s national team, has become the first Chinese player to be signed by Nike’s Jordan brand and the new addition to the brand’s hoops star player stable is announced with a campaign called simply ‘Welcome’.
The promotion is spearheaded by a spot, launched on 10 May, developed in harness with agency AKQA’s Shanghai office.
Its message is simple: the ad welcomes Guo into the Jordan stable
The commercial begins with a custodian entering a moodily lit locker room chamber: almost blinded by the lights as he walks in.
The mysterious museum-like locker room has spaces for the branded jerseys and shoes of all the major name Jodan basketball endorsers: including Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook.
A Michael Jordan voiceover says: “Welcome to the spotlight. You are the first. Countless have dreamed of this. Represent them. Represent me. Represent yourself. We are Jordan. Guo Ailun, welcome to the family.”
As the spot closes, the custodian hangs up an additional, new uniform bearing Guo’s name.
The ad is amplified across the usual digital and social channels including Twitter,
Welcome to the spotlight, Guo Ailun.
郭艾伦，欢迎你来到传奇的领地。 pic.twitter.com/KkxIrlmKHL— Jordan (@Jumpman23) May 10, 2017
Instagram,
and Facebook.
Activative Comment:
The spot’s artsy, moody, slightly mystic visuals and its status arrival message is not dissimilar to so many other hoops marketing films.
But creatively this spot is notable for its fairly abstract treatment of the announcement.
Particularly for the fact that there are no actual shots of the hoops pioneer Guo himself.
You might ask why it has taken so long for Nike’s Jordan brand to sign its first Chinese hoops ambassadors. After all, the brand has been in the market for 20 years.
After all, basketball is huge in China and the Jordan brand is something of a status symbol in the country.
The reason is that Nike’s Jordan Jumpman23 has been legally working its way through a lengthy Chinese trademark battle.
For many years a major Chinese brand, called Qiaodan, has been using the Chinese characters that are most commonly associated with Jordan’s name.
Finally, in December 2016, Nike and Jordan won a partial court victory to secure the rights so it has now begun to sign up some local stars and renew its focus on the giant Chinese market.
Links:
Nike Jordan
https://www.youtube.com/user/jumpman23
https://www.instagram.com/jumpman23/
https://www.facebook.com/jumpman23
http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/c/jordan
AKQA Shanghai
http://www.akqa.com/contact/shanghai/
