Basketball continues to grow fast across China, but while more and more Chinese children are playing hoops and watching the NBA most of them feel reaching the league is beyond their grasp.
So Nike was quick to sign up 20-year-old Chinese star Zhou Qi when he was drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2016 and has followed his arrival in the NBA with a new Autumn campaign called ‘Don’t Come Back’.
Qi, who spent the last year since he was drafted preparing in the CBA championship, is now officially with the Rockets for the new season and is the only Asian player from mainland China.
The sportswear giant’s latest Qi-fronted campaign, which debuted in China in late October, was developed in harness with Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai and is led by a hero TV spot.
The commercial runs under Nike new “Want It All” basketball concept – which was first unveiled through its glorious, blockbuster 2017/18 season spot (see case study).
“We wanted to create something that felt truly authentic to Chinese basketball culture. We wanted it to resonate with fans. And that began by finding an insight into how they were actually talking about Zhou Qi,” explained Wieden+Kennedy Creative Director Matt Skibiak.
“We then also wanted to show people and places that you don’t typically see in basketball commercials. So we cast people from all over China, not just Shanghai and Beijing. And we filmed in locations that didn’t all immediately scream, ‘Shanghai’.”
Comment:
China is a big basketball country and Zhou Qi has further ignited the country’s passion for the sport.
When he was drafted last year he became only the second Chinese player to make the NBA after fellow Rockets star and Hall Of Famer Yao Ming.
While some are hoping he becomes the next Yao Ming, most hoops fans, even those in China, acknowledge that Zhou Qi still has a long way to go.
This latest Nike Basketball campaign revolving around a new Chinese hoops star follows on from Nike sub-brand Jordan’s ‘Welcome’ campaign focusing on Chinese baller endorser Guo Ailun (see case study).
Links:
Nike
https://www.nike.com/cn/zh_cn/
Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai
http://www.wk.com/office/shanghai
