Foot Locker has partnered with Nike’s Jordan Brand for a festive basketball campaign fronted by Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook called ‘Fly Your Own Way’.
The comic campaign, which features a phalanx and basketball personalities and former NBA stars, is spearheaded by a 60-second TV commercial that features point guard Westbrook and aims to encourage customers and viewers to stay true to themselves.
The narrative opens with Westbrook sat in a hotel lobby (wearing Jordans of course) approached by a youngster who tells him he has just bought a pair of Jordan XX9 Low sneakers from Foot Locker so he can be just like Westbrook.
But the pair are interrupted by ESPN analyst Jalen Rose, CNN medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta, Melissa Rivers, Dr Phil and others who try and crush the kids dreams by pointing out all the reasons why the young fan is extremely unlikely to ever be like Westbrook.
The Thunder guard, who says he himself grew up wanting to be just like Jordan, dismisses the critics and is simply to tell the youngster to just be himself and encourages him to ‘Fly your own way’.
The campaign is amplified across social platforms (using the #FlyYourOwnWay hashtag) – including Instagram
‘I always have fun working with Foot Locker and Jordan Brand, but this commercial was particularly memorable with so many different people and well-known personalities,’ comments Westbrook.
‘This holiday season I want to inspire my fans to stay true to themselves and be who they are.’
The campaigns has been developed in association with creative agency BBDO NY and primarily launched the new Jordan XX9 low shoe which is available in Foot Locker’s stores and online from 4 December.
Comment
With 729,229 YouTube views since it was first posted on 3 December, the spot is definitely gaining solid traction this festive season.
Indeed, this idea of being authentic, staying true to yourself and following your own path is an increasingly on-trend theme across the contemporary sports and sponsorship marketing.
In fact, Adidas current umbrella strategy is built around the very concept with recent campaign examples stretching from its latest James Harden led campaign (see case study) to its August multi-sport ‘Create Your Own’ campaign (see case study).
Foot Locker has been a multi-territory NBA commercial partner (in various guises) for around two decades – with ties to the league, the All-Star Weekend and several star players.
Links
Foot Locker Twitter:
https://twitter.com/footlocker
Foot Locker Instagram:
https://instagram.com/footlocker
Foot Locker YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/footlocker
Foot Locker Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/footlocker?_rdr=p
Foot Locker Google+:
https://plus.google.com/+FootLockerofficial
James Harden Website:
http://jameshardenillustrated.com/
Foot Locker Website:
BBDO New York:
