To leverage the start of the new football season and launch its new PhantomVSN football boot, Nike rolled out a tongue-in-cheek, blockbuster movie style campaign that warns the world of the boot’s deadly precision.
The campaign is spearheaded by an epic short film telling the tale of a mysterious player who, via word of mouth, transforms the material state to become an urban soccer legend.
The two-and-a-half-minute hero spot is helmed by Hollywood director Matthew Vaughn (via Black Label Productions): best known for movies such as Kingsman, Kick-Ass and Layer Cake.
Among Nike’s player ambassadors who wear Phantom boots and appear in the film are Philippe Coutinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Mal Pugh and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, alongside fellow athlete ambassadors Gattuso, Neymar, Pirlo, Ronaldinho.
The video also stars Nigerian rapper WizKid, plus his posse Legendury Beatz, and Tiwa Savage, while the soundtrack is a mashup belnding Genesis with Heavy Metal by Justice.
The campaign, which was developed in harness with agency Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, kicked off with a social teaser phase in late July with around 200 pieces of content seeded to plant supernatural myths around real Phantom players and the boot.
All the assets carry the campaign hashtag #AwakenThePhantom.
It’s coming for you#AwakenThePhantom @DeBruyneKev
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The PhantomVSN is available now at https://t.co/qKLaz1dh7A#NikePhantom pic.twitter.com/XHEi7qXgID— Nike Football (@nikefootball) July 25, 2018
The film, which was then first posted on 10 August, tells the story of a mysterious player who plummets, Voldemort-like, into a stadium one night riding a plume of smoke.
As the campaign unfolds, defenders shiver in fear while the football world asks who is this phantom?
It is supported by further pieces across the brand’s digital and social platforms all running with the campaign’s ‘Be the one they fear #AwakenThePhantom’ tagline.
Be the one they fear. #AwakenThePhantom⁰
The new Nike PhantomVSN is available now at https://t.co/TzH4CDHowG
Feat. @Phil_Coutinho, @MalPugh, @DeBruyneKev, @neymarjr, @10Ronaldinho, @Pirlo_official, Gennaro Gattuso, @xsimons10 & @Aubameyang7 pic.twitter.com/dgPYAMlc0T
— Nike Football (@nikefootball) August 10, 2018
Plus there is an accompanying behind-the-scenes, making of video.
The film and its supporting pieces all aim to direct viewers to brand’s online purchasing platform at http://www.nike.com/phantom
The work was created by an agency team that included copy writer Jake Barnes, creative directors Craig Williams and Evgeny Primachenko and art director Riccardo Rachello.
Editing was handled by The Quarry, post by The Mill, audio post by Grand Central Studios, the sound designer/mixer was Raja Sehgal, music was run by MassiveMusic.
The campaign promotes the new PhantomVSN boot line, which is replacing the brand’s Magista series, which will be worn during the new season by several major names.
Different Class. Love the touch of my new PhantomVSN.
Get yours at https://t.co/ZjYgw0sWIA#NikePhantom #AwakenThePhantom @nikefootball pic.twitter.com/eqS8wzjCZp— Kevin De Bruyne (@DeBruyneKev) August 4, 2018
“We developed an internal Quadfit mesh bootie that conforms to fit most any foot, but retains its shape and will not overstretch,” explains designer Phil Woodman.
“Quadfit contains the foot without constricting the foot.”
Comment:
This campaign leverages the new season and aims to show how players can build a mythological reputation around their abilities and skills.
It again sees Nike blend the worlds of football, music and culture together.
The short film has already notched up 1,160,096 views, 41K likes on the Nike Football YouTube channel alone.
A metric that will continue to grow in the early weeks of the new football season.
It is a tongue-in-cheek epic that follows in the footsteps of some of Nike’s very best jaw dropping ads: such as ‘Brazil Airport’,
‘Good vs Evil’,
‘The Cage’,
‘The Mission’,
‘Write The Future’,
‘Winner Stays On’,
and Russia 2018’s ‘Going Brazilian’,
and ‘Dare To Become’.
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/
Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
