Launched just a few minutes after France beat Croatia to win the Russia 2018 World Cup Final, Nike celebrated the triumph of its French team partner’s triumph with the release of a gritty spot called ‘Belief Born On The Streets Of France’.
Launched across Nike’s social channels – including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – the film focuses not only the glamorous culmination of the final but on the earthy, gritty streets of France.
The streets and parks and fields where the French players honed their skills and forged their determined spirit.
Belief born in the streets of France. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/t3rYXJz7Kw
— Nike (@Nike) July 15, 2018
Nike also used the occasion to promote and celebrate the birth of a new super star endorser with an Instagram post of a photo of France’s 19-year-old striker Kylian Mbappé pointing at the new star on the team’s (Nike) jersey.
The copy line caption reads: “A Star is born.”
The Nike sponsored teen became the second-youngest player ever to score during a World Cup final, after Brazilian legend Pelé,
Comment:
A World Cup Final featuring two Nike backed teams is a bonus outcome for the ambush brand in its ongoing struggle with fierce rival and official FIFA partner Adidas.
So the US sports behemoth couldn’t go wrong.
This poetic ad strikingly celebrates France’s street-soccer culture and outlines its crucial role in France’s second world title.
This idea is based on the fact that many of France’s players come from those areas Nike’s commercial explores and they grew up playing tough street football.
The journey may have culminated in the glamorous confines of the World Cup Final in Moscow, but kudos to Nike for explaining where it all started.
This film builds on Nike’s previous World Cup work which ranges from its ‘Going Brazilian’ commercial (see case study) to its ‘Believe…Featuring’ low latency, responsive work (see case study).
By the end of the tournament some marketers and data procuders said that Nike had a good claim to have ‘won the brand World Cup’ despite not being an official partner.
As the kit supplier of the winning team France and the its tie-ups with Young Player of the Tournament Kylian Mbappe, Player of the Tournament Luca Modric and Golden Boot winner Harry Kane.
According to Nike, 10 teams wore Nike strips and 100 goals were scored by players wearing the company’s boots.
Nike claimed that its ‘Believe’ campaign (starring Ronaldo and Neymar in a series of short films), alongside a longer standalone ‘Brazil’ trailer together generated over 100 million views and over 50 million engagements.
Links:
Nike / Nike Football
https://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/c/football
https://www.youtube.com/user/nike
https://www.youtube.com/user/NikeFootball
https://twitter.com/nikefootball
https://www.instagram.com/nike/
https://www.instagram.com/nikefootball/
