A new integrated campaign in China, which translates as ‘Don’t Call me Precious’, sees Nike challenge the traditional cultural stereotype of the overprotected and deferential child.
Spanning television, digital and OOH, the campaign revolves around four thematic spots each of which showcase four, real, young sporting talents demanding their independence from the parents.
The four films in the series star a ‘basketballer’, a ‘boxer’, a ‘footballer’ and a ‘runner’: all are ahed between 10 and 13-years-old.
Each spot sees the kid bluntly tell grownups to let them play by their own rules.
The spots and the digital campaign strand are being supported by outdoor advertising, experiential events over the summer and an inventive ‘meme generator’.
The initiative was developed in harness with R/GA Shanghai and executive creative director Terence Leong explained: “Resisting the trend of saccharine parental sentimentality towards children in China, the junior sporting stars make it clear they don’t want to be babied. Sports doesn’t care how old you are. It’s going to be just tough on you whether you’re 13 or 30, and just as rewarding.”
“When it comes to sports, children have the grit, determination and fearlessness of adults,” added Steve Tsoi, vice-president of marketing for Nike Greater China.
“They aren’t constrained by their age, but they’re sometimes constrained by parents’ fears of them falling or failing. We wanted to help overcome this over protectiveness by reframing ‘young athletes’ as athletes who happen to be young.”
Comment:
Challenging accepted and historically cultural norms can be a risky business for a brand.
But Nike has always been a company focused on the next generation and one which always seeks to remain a challenger brand (despite being the biggest beats in its category).
This initiative sees Nike stick to its strategic roots and position by trying the shakeup attitudes in what it potentially the biggest market of all.
Good luck!
R/GA Shanghai is really building up a reputation for doing some inventive nwork for Nike in China.
The Activative team particularly admired the agency’s recent ‘Road To HBL Basketball’ immersive experience (see case study).
Links:
Nike China
https://www.facebook.com/nike/
https://www.youtube.com/user/nike
https://www.instagram.com/nike/
R/GA Shanghai
https://www.rga.com/offices/shanghai
